In an Emergency
If you are at home & you are being threatened or attacked:
- Stay away from the kitchen (the abuser can find weapons, like knives, there)
- Stay away from bathrooms, closets or small spaces where the abuser can trap you
- Get to a room with a door or window to escape
- Get to a room with a phone to call for help; lock the abuser outside if you can
- Call 911 (or your local emergency number) right away for help; get the dispatcher's name
- Think about a neighbor or friend you can run to for help
- If a police officer comes, tell him/her what happened; get his/her name & badge number
- Get medical help if you are hurt
- Take pictures of bruises or injuries
- Call our hotline (501) 278-4673, or another domestic violence program or shelter; ask them to help you make a safety plan
How to Protect Yourself at Home
- Learn where to get help; memorize emergency phone numbers.
- Keep a phone in a room you can lock from the inside; if you can, get a cellular phone that you keep with you at all times.
- Make sure your cell phone is charged at all times.
- If the abuser has moved out, change the locks on your door; get locks on the windows.
- Plan an escape route out of your home; teach it to your children.
- Think about where you would go if you needed to escape.
- Ask your neighbors to call the police if they see the abuser at your house; make a signal for them to call the police, for example, if the phone rings twice, a shade is pulled down or a light is on.
- Pack a bag with important things you'd need if you had to leave quickly; put it in a safe place, or give it to a friend or relative you trust.
- Include cash, car keys & important information such as: court papers, passport or birth certificates, medical records & medicines, immigration papers.
- Get an unlisted phone number.
- Block caller ID.
- Use voice mail; screen the calls
- If financially feasible invest in security cameras
- Avoid ground floor apartments.
- Put a dowl rod in your sliding glass door to act as a door jammer
- Inform your neighbors about your situation so they can act as look outs for your abuser.
How to Protect Your Children
- Teach them not to get in the middle of a fight, even if they want to help.
- Teach them how to get to safety, to call 911, to give your address & phone number to the police.
- Teach them who to call for help.
- Tell them to stay out of the kitchen.
- Give the principal at school or the daycare center a copy of your court order; tell them not to release your children to anyone without talking to you first; use a password so they can be sure it is you on the phone; give them a photo of the abuser.
- Make sure the children know who to tell at school if they see the abuser.
- Make sure that the school knows not to give your address or phone number to anyone.
How to Protect Yourself In Town
- Vary your routes to and from stores and your home
- Try to get rides with different people.
- Shop and bank in a different places at varying times.
- Cancel any bank accounts or credit cards you shared; open new accounts at a different bank.
- Keep your court order and emergency numbers with you at all times.
- Keep a cell phone & program it to 911 (or other emergency number).
- If you see your abuser in public try to slip away unseen.
- Know the exits in all stores you go into.
- If you are being followed while driving, drive to the nearest police station.
- Stay in well populated areas.
How to Protect Yourself at Work
- Keep a copy of your court order at work.
- Give a picture of the abuser to security and friends at work.
- Tell your supervisors - see if they can make it harder for the abuser to find you.
- Don't go to lunch alone.
- Ask a security guard to walk you to your car or to the bus.
- If the abuser calls you at work, save voice mail and save email.
- Your employer may be able to help you find community resources.
How to Protect Yourself Online
- After viewing this site, you might want to clear your browser history so your abuser can't see that you visited this site. Look at Google's results for clearing your browser history and find the instructions for your device and browser.
- Use Public Computers - Public Computers at local public libraries or community centers are more difficult to trace. Consider using these to access help whenever possible.
- Delete Search History - Search engines track your online searches, and this information can be accessed by others using the same computer. If you are concerned that your trafficker will see what you have been searching for online, is important to clear your search history after each session. Here are instructions at Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
- Delete Browser History - Your browser saves a list of all the websites you have visited while on the internet, and should be cleared after every session, especially if you’ve visited sites you wish to keep private from your trafficker. Learn how to delete your search history on Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Toolbar.
- Disable AutoComplete - If the "Use Inline AutoComplete" box in your Internet settings is checked, partial web addresses will be completed while typing in the Address bar and could reveal where you have been browsing. To make sure AutoComplete is not enabled, pull down the Tools menu, choose Internet Options, then click the Advanced tab. There is a box that can be checked or unchecked called "Use Inline AutoComplete." Uncheck the box if it is checked.
- Disable Chat Logs - If you are using a chat feature, check to see if your program has a Disable/Enable log setting that you can disable while you are chatting. Once you are done chatting, you can restore the settings.
- Privacy Settings - When posting on social networking sites, double check privacy settings and remove any geographical check-in points such as Four Square, or automatic GPS tags on photographs or photograph-based websites. Privacy & Safety on Facebook: A Guide for Survivors is an in depth guide on how to best manage your privacy on Facebook. Learn more about safety and privacy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- Post with Discretion - When posting on social networking sites, be cautious not to provide unnecessary information regarding your daily activities or close friends and family.
- Block Trafficker/Trafficker's Acquaintances - Consider blocking your trafficker, and ”Unfriending”/”Unfollowing” all of your trafficker’s friends or mutual friends you cannot trust. Blocking a user from a social network site, provides extra levels of privacy and security. Always consider that anything shared on a social networking site can eventually find its way to your trafficker and/or someone that might pass on this information, even innocently.
- New Email Account - Create a new email account from one of the free email providers such as Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail or Hushmail.
- New Username - Choose a gender-neutral, non-specific username that is not similar to one you have used before, not yourname@. Don’t reference favorite hobbies or birthdates in your username, or anything that might alert your trafficker to your identity.
- Online Address Book - If you use the address book associated with your email program, do not enter sensitive information into the address book. If your email program automatically enters email addresses into the address book of people you’ve replied to, you may be able to disable that feature. You may also be able to disable the automatic name completion feature, which fills in an email address after the first few letters are typed.
- Sent/Deleted Emails - You can prevent items from being saved in your Sent folder by disabling that feature in your email. You can either set your deleted items folder to be cleared daily, or simply empty it at the end of each email session.
- Blocking/Filtering Emails - You can block incoming emails through your email program. You can select to block specific email addresses, or addresses ending in the same address (e.g.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or any email that ends in address.com.) You can also choose to have designated senders' emails sent to a specific folder. This will allow you the ability to read the emails at a time that is convenient for you, and also allows you to have a copy of the email should there be threats, etc. - Password Safety - Change passwords and PINs frequently, and never give your passwords/PINs to anyone. Choose passwords that are difficult to guess and include letters and numbers. If you need to write it down, write down a hint rather than the actual password. Do not allow the computer to remember passwords for you.
- Search for Yourself - Do a search on Google, Bing, and Yahoo for your full name and city or state to screen all publicly available information that someone can find about you on the Internet. Also, be cautious about having photos of you or your children displayed online.