Domestic Violence
Focus your safety planning around anticipated actions of the abuser. Look for potential dangers, recognizing that abusers may shift their tactics. Explore all of your options. Your safety plan should be adaptable, include considerations for children, and serve to protect, inform, support, and escape.
Sexual Assault
Your safety planning should center around knowing community resources; normalizing potential responses and triggers; creating a sense of safety within yourself and your personal space; and anticipating any potential dangers from the perpetrator.
Dating Violence
Know that many people minimize the seriousness of this type of abuse. As part of your safety planning, ensure you have people in your life who support and believe you. Unfortunately, social media and social communities can vilify victims of dating violence, leading to further isolation and possible retaliation.
Stalking
Stalking may or may not be the result of an intimate relationship. The abuser may be infatuated or obsessed with the person being stalked. In these instances, documentation is critical to demonstrate the existence and extent of the stalking situation.
Safety Planning
Safety plans for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking are similar in many regards. Each involves looking at options, developing strategies, and accessing formal and informal resources. However, depending on the kind of violence the victim/survivor experienced, there are differences that should be taken into account.
Adjust Your Safety Plan to Your Circumstances
Safety planning should be dynamic, adapting to your changing circumstances. The forms cited below may be used for guides and should not be seen as completing the process of safety planning.
-
National Network to End Domestic Violence Technology Safety Plan
-
Safety Planning with Adult Sexual Assault Survivors
-
Teen Dating Violence Safety Plan
-
Transgender Safety Planning Tool (FORGE)
-
Victims of Crime Safety Planning Guide