Discussing a safety plan is important in every case. The following is some good advice to give to a victim:
- Go to the emergency room if injured
- Remind the victim that the only way to legally document any injury, no matter how minor it may seem, is to seek medical attention.
- Plan ahead
- Pack an extra set of clothes and important items, and store these at work or with a friend in case you need to leave in a hurry. Include toiletries, medications, extra keys, and money.
- Move meaningful belongings, identification, and other important papers (birth certificates, passports, Social Security cards, driver’s license, checkbook) to a safe location.
- Consider contacting a safe friend, co-worker, or family member whom you can stay with in case you feel danger and need to get away.
- Have an idea of how to get away, including dialing 911.
- Document what has happened to you: save records, take pictures of injuries and damaged property, and save police complaint numbers.
- Try to tell someone safe what has happened
- Abusive partners control their partners by silence and isolation.
Contact Family’s Domestic Violence Services or your local gay/lesbian community center. In New York City, contact the Gay and Lesbian Anti Violence Project Hotline at (212) 807-0197.