A safety plan is a set of small decisions made in advance, while you can still think clearly. You don't have to be ready to leave to make one. This page is designed to be printed or screenshotted.
Leano la pabalesego ke ditshwetso tse dinnye tse o di dirang go sa le gale. Ga go pateletse gore o bo o ipaakanyeditse go tsamaya.
While you are still in the house
- Know your exits. Practise, in your mind, how you would leave each room if violence starts. Avoid the kitchen and bathroom: weapons, no way out.
- Agree a code word with someone you trust ("call me about the church meeting") that means come, or call the police.
- Teach children to run to a neighbour and call 999, not to step between you and the abuser.
- Memorise two numbers: 999 (police) and 116 (Childline, free). Phones get taken; memory doesn't.
An emergency bag, kept outside the house
Leave it with a neighbour, relative or friend the abuser doesn't watch:
- Omang / passports (yours and the children's), or certified copies
- Birth certificates, clinic cards, any court documents
- Some cash, a spare phone or SIM, charger
- Spare keys, essential medication, a change of clothes
If you are about to leave
- Leave when the abuser is out, if you can. The moment of leaving is the most dangerous; tell as few people as possible beforehand.
- Go somewhere the abuser doesn't expect, not the first place they would look.
- Consider a protection order: free, same-day interim orders exist.
Your phone
- Save our number disguised: download our contact card (it saves as "RB Books").
- If your phone is checked, read how to browse safely before visiting this site again.
You don't have to do any of this alone. Talk to someone now: free, confidential, no name needed.