A Personal Safety Plan is a way for you to help protect yourself and you family from the abuser, whilst remaining in the relationship or preparing to leave or separate.

It may help you think about what steps you can take to reduce the risk of being abused or assaulted, and if it did occur, to minimise its impact on you or other family members.

If you are staying with your abuser:

• Seek professional advice and support from local support and outreach organisations, domestic violence services and helplines.
• Consider how agencies can make contact safely, e.g. through a work number or at a friend’s address.
• Consider where you can quickly and easily use a telephone and who are safe people to contact – memorise a list of numbers for use in an emergency, like friends, police, support organisations.
• Consider a signal with children, family, neighbours, friends or colleagues, which will alert them to call the police when help is needed.
• Think through escape routes in advance.  If possible avoid rooms with no exit or with weapons in (e.g. bathroom or kitchen).
• Try to save some money for fares and other expenses.
• Receive medical help for any injuries ensuring that they are recorded and if possible photographed.  These may be used at a later date to support court cases or rehousing applications.

If you are planning to leave:

• Take care over who to trust with any plans that you are making to leave.
• Consider whether or not an injunction is a viable option – seek legal advice.
• Make an extra set of keys for home and/or car and store them somewhere safe.
• Make up a bag with spare clothes, phone numbers, keys, money and keep it safe so you can take it quickly or keep it with a trusted friend.
• Have the following available in case you have to flee:

1. Important papers such as birth certificates, social security cards, driver’s licence, divorce papers, lease or mortgage papers, insurance information, school and medical records, welfare and immigration documents, court documents.
2. Credit cards, bank account number.
3. Some money.
4. Extra set of keys – for car, house and work. 
5. Medications and prescriptions, including those for children.
6. Phone numbers and addresses for family, friends, doctors, lawyers and community agencies.
7. Clothing and comfort items for you and the children.
8. Photographs and other items of sentimental value, such as jewellery.

• Take identification that might help others to protect you from the abuser, such as a recent photo of the abuser and their car details.
• Talk to children about the possibility of leaving and try to take all children, whatever long-term arrangements might be.

If you are living without your abuser after separation (in your own home or after moving):

• Seek expert legal advice on child contact and residence applications, and about options for injunctions.
• Change phone numbers to ex-directory and screen calls; pre-programme emergency numbers into the phone.
• Change the locals and install a security system, smoke alarms and an outside lighting system.
• Notify neighbours, employers and school about any injunctions, and ask them to call the police immediately if they see the abuser nearby.
• Make sure that schools and those who care for any children know who has authorisation to collect them.
• Employ safety measures before, during and after contact visits, if appropriate.
• Consider changing children’s schools, work patterns – hours and route taken – and the route taken to transport children to school.
• Avoid banks, shops and other places frequented when living with the abuser.
• Make up a code word for family, colleagues, teachers or friends, so they know when to call the police for help.
• Keep copies of all relevant paperwork (including civil injunctions) and make written records of any further incidents.

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