Security measures and safety in your new home

In an ideal world there would not be a need to mention this section but from personal history I would recommend any person starting again after domestic violence to consider these suggestions.

Your personal safety plan could include the following:

Tell someone you trust about what has happened, and set up a password with them so you can let them know if you are in danger.

Keep the following with you at all times if possible:

cash and cash cards

a mobile phone

address book, with numbers of, for example, domestic abuse support agencies, your GP,
your local police station, your children's schools, your solicitor, and your social worker, where relevant

car keys.

Teach your children to dial 999 in an emergency.

Pack a bag containing essentials for you and your children and leave it somewhere safe

If you are attacked, or think you are about to be attacked, try to get to a safer room, one where there is a telephone and an exit; avoid rooms (for example, the kitchen) where there are that could be used as weapons.

There are several measures you can take to make you safer in your home, by:

fitting more secure locks, door chains, and peepholes for the front doors

reinforcing doors and door frames

getting window locks, bars, and grills installed

installing alarms, CCTV and security lighting

improving fire safety measures

having a reinforced and lockable safe room in the house, from which the police can be called

letting neighbours know that the perpetrator no longer lives with you, and asking them
to let you know if they see her/him hanging around

changing telephone numbers and screening calls.

These measures can be used in conjunction with any legal measures to protect you taken to exclude the perpetrator (for example, an Occupation Order or Non-molestation Order). They will only protect you while you are inside your home, though, so you may want to consider other security measures for while you are out (for example, personal alarms, a mobile phone, self-defence classes). They can also be expensive, although you might be able to get help paying for them from the council

The police can give you further advice on security measures. Make sure your local police station knows that you have been a victim of domestic abuse. You should also give them a copy of any relevant injunction, especially if it has a power of arrest attached, so they are aware that they will need to respond quickly to any call from you.