Safety at Home

If you are living with your abuser:

•    Remove weapons from your house.

•    Avoid the kitchen (due to potential weapons) and bathroom (due to the tightly enclosed space) when you sense a physical attack coming.

•    Talk about the abuse to someone you trust.

•    Ask neighbors to call the police if they hear loud noises or fighting.

•    Think of a code word to use with your friends or family for those times when you are in need of assistance.

•    Make sure your children know their address and phone number.

•    Teach your children how to use the telephone and when to call for help.

•    Identify safe places for you and your children to go, if you have to leave your home in an emergency.

•    Hide clothing, money, keys, and copies of important documents with a friend/family in case you need to leave quickly. These documents may include:
a.    Birth certificates for you and your children
b.    A photo ID or driver’s license
c.    Your social security number, green card/work permit and/or other immigration documents
d.    Health insurance cards
e.    A deed or lease to your home
f.    Pay stubs
g.    A checkbook and extra checks


If you have left, or leaving, your abuser:

•    Try to be with someone as much as possible, especially when leaving your house, work, or anyplace the abuser knows about.

•    Change your routines, especially your regular routes to and from places you visit frequently (work, schools, grocery store, bank, etc.)

•    Report to friends/family about where you are, when you are leaving and returning.

•    Buy additional locks and safety devices to secure your windows and doors.

•    Carry a cell phone/pager with you at all times that is easily accessible.

•    Notify the police station in your district and give them copies of related police reports and civil protection orders.

•    Inform security and/or your supervisor at your workplace about your situation.

•    Keep copies of important phone numbers at work.

•    If you have a Protection Order, keep it with you at all times.

•    Take important documents such as:
a.    Birth certificates for you and your children
b.    A photo ID or driver’s license
c.    Your social security number, green card/work permit and/or other immigration documents
d.    Health insurance cards
e.    A deed or lease to your home
f.    Pay stubs
g.    A checkbook and extra checks

•    Be aware of your surroundings and look at make sure the abuser is not around.


If the abuser has left, or been evicted, from the home:

•    Change locks on doors and windows

•    Install a better security system- window bars, locks, better lighting, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

•    Teach children, if any, to call the police or family and friends if they are snatched.

•    Talk to schools, and childcare providers, about who has permission to pick up the children. If you have a protective order, show it to them.

•    Find a lawyer who is knowledgeable about family violence to explore your rights and how to protect you, and your children (if any).

•    Obtain a protective order.