Surviv3

Prepare to change the locks on your doors as soon as possible. Buy additional locks and safety devices to secure your windows and doors after the abuser has left.

Discuss a safety plan with your children when you are not with them.

Inform your children's school(s), day care center(s), etc. about who has permission to pick up your children. If you have an Order of Protection against the abuser, provide a copy to each school, day care center, etc. as some states require a copy to be on file to prevent the abuser from picking up the children.

Inform neighbors and landlord that your partner no longer lives with you and that they should call the police if they see him/her near your home. File an Order of Protection as soon as possible after the incident.

Keep your Order of Protection on you at all times. (The first thing to go into your new purse is your Order of Protection.)

Call the police if the abuser violates the Order of Protection.

Think of alternative ways to keep safe if the police do not respond right away.

Inform family, friends, neighbors that you have an Order of Protection in effect. If the abuser violates the Order for Protection, have a friend or neighbor call the police as well. Sometimes the police will not respond unless someone else calls on your behalf. (I know this for a fact because the police would not respond to my call and informed me they could not respond unless a neighbor called them, even though I had an Order for Protection.)