Emergency Safety Plan
If you believe that your partner or your former partner might become violent, you can prepare yourself in advance.
Prepare yourself by doing the following:
During a violent incident, you need to think and react quickly to make sure that you and your children stay safe.
Here are some steps that you can take beforehand to help you stay safe during a violent incident:
Before an incidence of domestic violence
During an incident of domestic violence
1. Keep a suitcase, box or bag in a place where you can grab it quickly and easily.
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2. Make sure that your purse, wallet, ID papers, keys and other emergency items are located where you can grab them quickly and easily (a location known only to you), in case you need to leave the house in a hurry.
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3. Plan your transport options.
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4. Take about your situation with people you trust. Agree upon a code word that you can use to warn them you are in danger and that they need to call the police immediately.
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5. Teach your children to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency, not to intervene during a domestic violence incident and to hide in a safe place in the house or seek help from a neighbor.
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6. Plan to have somewhere where you can go in case of an emergency (parents, friends, transition house).
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7. Make contact with a transition house and share what you are going through. Contact them at any time to get support and immediate assistance.
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8. Regularly review and update your safety plan
1. If the situation becomes dangerous and you are in a position to do so, dial 911.
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2. Try to defuse the situation.
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3. Try to stay calm and to reassure the children.
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4. Remember that the priority is to protect your life and your children’s.
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5. Avoid any room without an exit.
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6. Avoid places where firearms or knives are stored.
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7. Deactivate your mobile phone’s geolocation function and social media’s.
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8. Quickly go somewhere safe or contact a transition house to get help quickly.