BE AWARE

LEAVING CAN BE YOUR MOST DANGEROUS TIME BE PREPARED HAVE A SAFETY PLAN

Technology Safety

Mobile Phones: Turn off GPS and location settings.
Choose a passcode on your phone that only you know.
Have a second, prepaid mobile that only you know about.
Computers: After browsing online, clear your search history and before logging off, make random searches on the web (shopping, movies, news). This will leave a recent and safe browser history.
Log off your computer when you have finished using it.
Create an email that is private that only you can access.
Change passwords regularly: Use different passwords for different accounts and make sure that your browser does not remember your passwords.
On Social Media: Consider your social media account and your ‘Privacy’ settings.
Consider your ‘Location’ settings and cues on Social Media: Do you ‘check in’ to places? Do family or friends ‘check you in’? Do photos you’re tagged in, show where you are? If it is unsafe for your location to be known, tell people not to do this.
When looking for help online: Use a safe computer, such as the local library computer, internet café or use a trusted family member or a friend’s computer.

Safety at work

Tell someone at your workplace about your current situation
Devise a safety plan for arriving and leaving work
Travel different routes to work or have someone escort you to your car, bus or train.

Safety when planning to leave

Plan where to go. Options could include family, friends or Women’s Refuge.
Always try to take your children with you.
Contact your local support agency who can provide support and keep their telephone number in a safe place. Choose a passcode on your phone that only you know.
Review your safety plan with a support worker or police.
Discuss a safety plan with your children for when you are not with them.
Change your bank and postal arrangements – have mail sent to a safe address or mail box.
Change your phone number.
Inform your children’s school who has permission to collect the children.
Pack a small bag with spare keys, copies of important documents (passports, reports etc), clothes and money and leave with some one you trust.

Safety during an incident

Practice how to get out of your home safely. Identify which doors and windows would be best.
Find a neighbour you can trust and ask them to call the police if they hear a disturbance coming from your home.
Teach your children to call 000.
Use your instincts to keep you and your children safe.
Call the police as soon as it is safe to do so.

Safety with an intervention order