The Basics of Domestic Violence Safety Planning

By Christine Murray, See the Triumph Co-Founder

A safety plan is a basic tool that victims of domestic violence can use to identify risks to their safety and well-being and plan strategies for protecting themselves in the face of those risks. A couple years ago, my Family Violence Research Group at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro developed the Safety Strategies: Safety Planning for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Their Children booklet as a resource for professionals to use to conduct safety planning with their clients who face domestic violence. Our goal was to use the information we learned through our research with professionals working with 9 domestic violence agencies to present a comprehensive, practical approach to safety planning.

Ideally, safety planning is done with professionals who have experience working with victims and survivors, because they are trained to help survivors identify the most pressing risks and helpful strategies to reduce those risks. If you or someone you know is currently experiencing domestic violence, I recommend you reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline (http://www.thehotline.org/; 1-800-799-7233) and/or a professional in your local community to walk through the process of developing a safety plan that reflects your current circumstances.

Based on the Safety Strategies booklet, we offer the following safety planning suggestions to help people who are currently facing safety risks due to a current or former abusive relationship:

1. First, know your resources. The National Domestic Violence Hotline (http://www.thehotline.org/; 1-800-799-7233) is a great resource that’s available to any victim of domestic violence in the United States. Beyond national resources, write down--or commit to memory if it’s not safe to have this information written down--the emergency number for your local law enforcement agencies, as well as the contact information for the local agencies available in your community to support victims of domestic violence.
   
2. Second, understand the lethality of your situation. Any violence within a current or former relationship has the potential to be very dangerous, and it should be taken seriously. However, there are certain indicators that a relationship is more likely to turn toward serious, or even deadly, violence. Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell has created The Danger Assessment, which is a very useful tool for identifying lethality indicators in abusive relationships. You can learn more about the Danger Assessment and download a copy here: http://dangerassessment.org/DATools.aspx.
   
3. Third, think through the specific safety risks that you may face. In our Safety Strategies booklet, we focus on 10 specific safety areas around which people can develop safety planning strategies. These are:
   
1. Safety when living with an abusive partner
   
2. Safety when leaving an abusive relationship
   
3. Safety in a domestic violence shelter
   
4. Safety during a violent incident
   
5. Safety issues related to children and parenting
   
6. Safety in the context of stalking
   
7. Domestic violence protection/restraining orders
   
8. Safety at work and school
   
9. Your physical, emotional, and social wellbeing and safety
   
10. Safety and technology
    
4. Take steps to plan for minimizing your risks and promoting your safety in those situations. Each of the areas listed above can present unique risks for victims and survivors of abuse. Again, it’s best to do safety planning with a trained professional, but even if someone isn’t ready to seek help yet, they can still think through ways to enhance their safety in the context of a current or past abusive relationship.
   
   

It’s important to remember that safety planning is no guarantee of complete safety. A dangerous abuser can be unpredictable, and they can be a threat even after a very thorough safety plan has been developed and put into action. However, a greater awareness of the safety planning process and the steps that victims and survivors can take to stay safe can go a long way toward minimizing risks and promoting their safety.