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Because violence could escalate when someone tries to leave, here are some things to keep in mind before you leave:

  • Keep any evidence of physical abuse, such as pictures of injuries.

  • Keep a journal of all violent incidences, noting dates, events and threats made, if possible. Keep your journal in a safe place.

  • Know where you can go to get help. Tell someone what is happening to you.

  • If you are injured, go to a doctor or an emergency room and report what happened to you. Ask that they document your visit.

  • Plan with your children and identify a safe place for them, like a room with a lock or a friend’s house where they can go for help. Reassure them that their job is to stay safe, not to protect you.

  • Contact your local shelter and find out about laws and other resources available to you before you have to use them during a crisis. WomensLaw.org has state by state legal information.

  • Acquire job skills or take courses at a community college as you can.

  • Try to set money aside or ask friends or family members to hold money for you.

PREPARING TO LEAVE

leaving a relationship

WE FIGHT FOR YOU

WHEN YOU LEAVE

Make a plan for how and where you will escape quickly. You may request a police escort or stand-by when you leave. If you have to leave in a hurry, use the following list of items as a guide to what you need to bring with you. Our advocates can help you come up with a personalized safety plan for leaving.
 

1) Identification

  • Driver’s license

  • Birth certificate and children’s birth certificates

  • Social security cards

  • Financial information

  • Money and/or credit cards (in your name)

  • Checking and/or savings account books
     

2) Legal Papers

  • Protective order

  • Copies of any lease or rental agreements, or the deed to your home

  • Car registration and insurance papers

  • Health and life insurance papers

  • Medical records for you and your children

  • School records

  • Work permits/green Card/visa

  • Passport

  • Divorce and custody papers

  • Marriage license
     

3) Emergency Numbers

  • Your local police and/or sheriff’s department

  • Your local domestic violence program or shelter

  • Friends, relatives and family members

  • Your local doctor’s office and hospital

  • County and/or District Attorney’s Office 
     

4) Other

  • Medications

  • Extra set of house and car keys

  • Valuable jewelry

  • Pay-as-you-go cell phone

  • Address book

  • Pictures and sentimental items

  • Several changes of clothes for you and your children

  • Emergency money

AFTER YOU LEAVE

Your safety plan should include ways to ensure your continued safety after leaving an abusive relationship.
Here are some safety precautions to consider:

  • Change your locks and phone number.

  • Call the telephone company to request caller ID. Ask that your phone number be blocked so that if you call anyone, neither your partner nor anyone else will be able to get your new, unlisted phone number.

  • Change your work hours and the route you take to work.

  • Change the route taken to transport children to school or consider changing your children’s schools.

  • Alert school authorities of the situation.

  • If you have a restraining order, keep a certified copy of it with you at all times, and inform friends, neighbors and employers that you have a restraining order in effect.

  • Call law enforcement to enforce the order and give copies of the restraining order to employers, neighbors and schools along with a picture of the offender.

  • Consider renting a post office box or using the address of a friend for your mail (be aware that addresses are on restraining orders and police reports, and be careful to whom you give your new address and phone number).

  • Reschedule appointments that the offender is aware of.

  • Use different stores and frequent different social spots.

  • Alert neighbors and request that they call the police if they feel you may be in danger.

  • Replace wooden doors with steel or metal doors. Install security systems if possible.

  • Install a motion sensitive lighting system.

  • Tell people you work with about the situation and have your calls screened by one receptionist if possible.

  • Tell people who take care of your children or drive them/pick them up from school and activities. Explain your situation to them and provide them with a copy of the restraining order.

Copyright © 1998 by the National Center for Victims of Crime. This information may be freely distributed, provided that it is distributed free of charge, in its entirety and includes this copyright notice.

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