safety

The list below can’t guarantee your safety, but could help make you safer and have more control. 

1. Quit Lying to Yourself- Admit it to yourself and someone you trust. It is what it is and it is abusive and  you know it. 

2. Educate Yourself- Get the facts, know the Signs. 

3. Watch for Red Flags- That bad behavior that is about to erupt. 

4. Get Back Control- Make little but good choices and the right choices. 

5. Make a safety Exit Plan- for yourself and children. 

6. Make Copies of Important Papers- keep them with you or with a trusted friend. 

7. Know Where Your Phone Is- This could be your lifeline. 

8. Have an extra set of keys- car keys and house keys hidden or with a trusted friend.

9. Be Careful when using the internet… you can be traced that way. 

10. Seek Help- call 911 in an emergency. 

11. Go to a Safe Place- Do Not Be Alone 

Once you have escaped an abusive relationship, you must stay diligent to protect yourself. 70% of  Domestic Violence murders occur after the victim has left the relationship. 

HOW TO PREVENT AN ABUSER FROM STALKING YOU 

How to keep yourself safe online: 

1.  Clear out your Cache and browser data frequently. 
2.  People can search your username, email address and phone number to find your other accounts on  different websites. From this they can piece together your information.. One site may have your place of  employment listed, another may have your email address, another may have a group you’re a part of  with the location listed, events you have or will attend etc.. 
3. People can use Reverse Image Search Engines to look up ANY pictures you have posted – including any  pictures of drawings, photographs etc.. 
4. Change your passwords often and use a combination of letters, cap locks and numbers to keep them  complex and harder to guess. Know that your general location can be traced through your IP address. 
5. Just because you might have a high privacy setting, your friends may not. If your stalker knows your  friends, they may be able to track you down through your friend’s contact list and photos.
6. Turn off “Find my iPhone”
7. Turn off your phone location
8. Get a Burner Phone (paid by the minute phone) and turn your current completely phone off in case its bugged.

How to keep yourself safe in real life: 

1. Change your phone number and keep it private/unlisted. You can also use a Google Voice Number as  your primary phone number. Don’t accept personal phone calls at work. 
2. Get a P.O. Box – Have ALL your mail sent here, including your utilty bills. 
3. Disable the GPS settings on your smart phone. Most picture uploads and posts you make from your  smart phone contains GPS data that can be retrieved unless you have disabled this feature. 
4. Change your routines – take different routes to work, change times you wake up, work out, leave your  home. Don’t frequent the same public place on a regular basis, change restaurants, coffee shops and  other places of business often. 
5. Keep records of any phone calls, text message or emails. 
6. Tell people you can trust what is going on.  Advise your neighbors what is going on and ask that if they ever hear anything unusual or sounds of distress coming from your home to call the police.