Safety planning
and risk assessment

Use what you already know
If you are a battered woman, you probably know more about safety planning and risk assessment than you might even realize. Being in a relationship with an abusive partner—and surviving—requires considerable skill and resourcefulness. Any time you do or say something as a way to protect yourself and/or your children, you are assessing risk and enacting a safety plan. You do it all the time. It’s just not always a conscious process.

Think it through
It can be a really helpful safety strategy to evaluate risks and make safety plans in a more intentional way. Whether you are currently with your partner or have ended the relationship, and whether or not you choose to use the available service system or to involve the police, there are certain things that are helpful to consider in planning for your future safety.

Safety planning for every situation
Safety plans can be made for a variety of different situations — for dealing with an emergency, such as when you are threatened with a physical assault or an assault has occurred; for continuing to live with or to date a partner who has been abusive; or for protecting yourself after you have ended a relationship with an abusive partner.

If you are planning to leave your partner or have already left, be aware that batterers often escalate their violence during times of separation, increasing your risk for harm, including serious and life-threatening injury. Making a separation safety plan can help reduce the risks to you and your children.

Identify your options
The value of any safety plan depends on identifying options that are meaningful and workable for you. This guide will provide information on the help available from local domestic violence programs,the police and the courts,services that are designed to help victims of domestic violence. But equally important is the help and information you may get through other systems, including your own system of family and social supports. You may find people you can trust in a variety of places:

• Employee Assistance, supervisor, union, co-worker
• Counselor, social worker, therapist
• Doctor, Ob/Gyn, dentist, nurse
• Friends, family, neighbors
• Religious congregation member, minister, rabbi, priest
• Women’s centers, displaced homemaker or senior centers
• Teachers, school counselors, PTA
• Department of Social Services caseworker

Evaluate your options
Only you can judge who it’s safe to tell about your situation and who to ask for help. Sometimes people who don’t have good information about domestic violence respond to battered women in ways that aren’t helpful, even when they mean well. On the other hand, you may feel more comfortable asking for help from someone you know. It’s your call. The important thing is for you to identify all the possible people who might be willing and able to help you. Make a list with their phone numbers and attach it to your safety plan for easy reference.

Plan Ahead
You don’t need to wait for an emergency to ask for help. In fact, it’s a good idea to talk to people who can help before there’s a crisis and find out what they’re willing and able to do for you. That way, you’ll know in advance if you have a place to stay, a source of financial assistance, or a safe person to keep copies of important papers with.

It can sometimes be hard to ask for help. But you deserve help, and you may need it. And most people really do want to help. The more specific you can be with them about what you need, the more likely it is that you’ll get the help you’re looking for.

Go back to table of contents
Go back to Safety Zone home page