Escape Your Abuse - Safety Planning
I'm not the one to tell you how to do it. I'm not ready to leave. However, developing my safety plan made me feel more in control. My safety plan helped me realize that I COULD escape and that I CAN escape when I'm ready.
My Department of Social Services counselor has told me that it's okay for me not to be ready to leave this relationship, this marriage, this family. I don't have to LEAVE just because I know what's going on. It's better to plan and think through a safety plan than to pick up and leave but have to go back because you weren't prepared.
Your Safety Plan
I'm not going to share my safety plan with you because I don't want anyone but those involved in it to know about it. It is very important that you keep your safety plan confidential, too.
I can point you in the direction you need to formulate your safety plan online, but I highly recommend that you speak with a counselor or hotline representative at any point during the creation of your plan. Those individuals have done this sort of planning before, and talking with them will make your planning easier and less stressful to complete.
Online Safety Form from DTIC, aka DD Form 2893 OR the military's safety plan, my version.
National Domestic Violence Hotline's Safety Planning Pages
Youth Safety Plan (deals with child abuse and devised for kids and teens)
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