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Safety Planning
If you are in an unsafe situation, making a safety
plan is very important. This page may give you some things to consider about
making a safety plan, including:
If you have any additional questions about safety
planning, please call AWARE at 586-6623 (in Juneau) or 1-800-478-1090 (in
Alaska). If you are outside of Alaska, please call the National Domestic
Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
Safety During an Explosive Incident
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If there is an argument,
try to be in a place that has an exit and not in a bathroom, kitchen, or room
that may contain weapons.
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Practice getting out of
your home safely. Identify which doors, windows, elevator, or stairwell to
use.
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Pack a bag and have it
ready at a friend’s or relative’s house.
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Identify one or more
neighbors you can tell about the violence and ask them if they can call the
police if they hear a disturbance coming from your home.
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Devise a code word to
use with your children, family, friends, and neighbors when you need the
police.
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Decide and plan where
you will go if you have to leave home.
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Use your instincts and
judgment. In a dangerous situation, give the abuser what he wants to calm him
down.
REMEMBER:
You don't deserve to be hit or threatened.
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Safety When Preparing to Leave
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If possible, open a checking or
savings account in your own name.
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Leave money, an extra
set of keys, copies of important documents, and extra clothes and medicines in
a safe place or with someone you trust.
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Get your own post office
box.
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Identify a safe place
where you and your children can go or who can lend you money.
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Always keep the shelter
phone number and some change or a calling card on you for emergency phone
calls. If you have a cell phone, keep it with you (and charged) at all times.
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If you have pets, make
arrangements for them to be cared for in a safe place. (AWARE advocates can
help with this.)
REMEMBER:
Leaving your batterer is often the most dangerous time.
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Checklist: What You Need To Take
IDENTIFICATION
FINANCIAL
LEGAL PAPERS
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Protective Order
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Lease, rental agreement,
house deed
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Car registration and
insurance papers
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Medical records for you
and your children
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Vaccination records
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School records
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Work permits/Green
Card/Visa
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Passport
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Divorce and custody
papers
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Marriage license
OTHER
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Safety With a Protective Order
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If you or your children
have been threatened or assaulted you can request a protective order from the
court. (AWARE advocates can help with this.)
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Once you have
obtained a
protective order,
always keep it
with you.
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Call the police if your
partner breaks the protective order.
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Inform family members,
friends, neighbors and school personnel that you have a protective order in
effect.
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Think of alternative
ways to keep safe if the police do not respond immediately
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Safety In Your Own Residence
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If you stay in your
home, lock your windows and change the locks on your doors as soon as
possible.
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Develop a safety plan
with your children for when you are not with them.
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Inform your child’s
school, day care, etc., about who has permission to pick up your child.
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Inform neighbors and the
landlord that your partner no longer lives with you, and they should call the
police if they see him near your home.
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Never call the abuser
from your home; he may find out where you live. Never tell the abuser where
you live.
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Request an
unlisted/unpublished number from the telephone company.
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Safety On the Job and In Public
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Decide who at work you
will inform of your situation. Include the office building security. (If
possible provide them with a picture of your batterer.)
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When at work, if
possible, have someone screen your telephone calls.
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Have someone escort you
to and from your car, bus, or home.
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If at all possible, use
a variety of routes to come and go from home.
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