Safety Planning

Even if you are still committed to your relationship and don’t feel ready to seek help from an agency, having a safety plan in place to deal with a crisis can help keep you and your children safe.

• Talk to a friend, family member or neighbour you can trust about the situation. Ask if you could go to them in an emergency.
• Keep a list of useful phone numbers – or programme them into your phone memory remembering to keep safe
• Know the local women’s aid number / national helpline and police numbers
• Set aside cash for a taxi, bus or train
• Have a set of spare keys cut for the house and car, and keep them in a safe place
• Pack a change of clothes for yourself and your children, and favourite toys

If you are planning on leaving :

• Take all official documents e.g. birth and marriage certificates, benefit books, passports, savings books, cheque books and cards, driving license and insurance documents with you if you leave.
• Take any medication that you or your children may need
• Make a plan of where to go and how to get there in an emergency – practice and plan how you and the children would leave the house (remember not to go in kitchen or bathrooms as they are difficult to escape from and have many sharp objects that can be used as weapons)
• You may want to use code words with family friends and children – when you use the code word they will know what plan of action to take. For example, you can inform your children that when you use a certian word they know to leave the house safely and go to a neighbours house - you need to make sure your neighbour needs to know what to do when the children arrive.

You may want to pack a bag including some of the items listed above and leave them with your trusted friend or relative.  

If you decide to leave, try to take your children with you.

If you leave and later discover that you have left something essential behind, the police may be able to escort you so that you can return for it.