Create Your Safety Plan
What is a Safety Plan?
A safety plan is a tool to help you to identify options to reduce your risk while experiencing abuse or getting ready to leave. It is a personalized, practical tool that can help you prepare for and respond to dangerous situations. It is helpful to have this plan written down in advance, so you are prepared when dealing with a crisis. Working with an advocate is the best way to develop a safety plan, but here are some considerations if you are not able to.
Use what you already know.
If you have been abused by an intimate partner, you probably know more about safety planning and risk assessment than you think. Being in a relationship with an abusive partner – and surviving – takes a lot of skill and resourcefulness. Any time you do or say something to protect yourself and/or your children, you are “safety planning.” Assessing risk is when you decide if taking a specific action will make things better or worse.
Safety plans can be made for a variety of different situations.
- Living or being in a relationship with an abusive partner.
- Responding to threatened or actual abuse.
- Safety planning with children and/or pets.
- Emotional safety planning.
- Safety planning when using technology.
- Safety planning while pregnant.
- Planning for your safety after ending a relationship with an abusive partner.
Safety planning can connect you with additional support.
Part of your safety plan may involve connecting with other people in your life and community who can provide support, such as:
- Caseworkers
- Therapists
- Doctors
- Friends and family
- Neighbors
- Spiritual leaders
- Teachers
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
If you are planning to leave your partner or have already left, be aware that abusive partners are often more violent during times of separation. This could increase your risk for harm, including stalking and serious or life-threatening injury. Making a specific separation safety plan can help prepare you for the risks to you and your children during and after a separation. Call your local service provider to make a safety plan with an advocate.
Link to interactive safety planning website, external link