Note: If you need to leave this page quickly, click on escape.
Caution! Computer and Internet activity can be monitored. If you are being abused or stalked it may be safer for you to use a computer a perpetrator does not have access to (e.g., Open Access Lab). If you need to leave this page quickly, click on escape near the top and bottom right of this page and you will be redirected to Google.com. For more information call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) at (800) 799-SAFE (7233), (800) 787-3224 (TTY); or visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline or CyberAngels online on a safer computer.
Your safety (and the safety of your children, if you have children) is very important. Every situation is different. If the options below are not right for you, please consider contacting a national or local domestic and sexual violence hotline for additional safety tips.
If you are in an abusive relationship, have been sexually assaulted, or are being stalked:
- Know that you are not at fault.
- Contact University Police or local law enforcement.
- Contact a 24-hour hotline.
- Make a safety plan.
- Get medical attention.
Know that you are not at fault.
- You did not cause the abuse to occur and you are not responsible for the violent behavior of someone else, no matter what a perpetrator may tell you.
Contact University Police or local law enforcement.
- Take all threats seriously. Call ‘911’ if you are in immediate danger. The highest risk of danger is when a perpetrator threatens to kill himself or others, and when a victim tries to end the relationship or has recently left the abuser.
- Keep proof of every incident and report incidents to law enforcement and campus authorities.
- Talk to the police about protective orders (restraining orders). Click on Victims' Rights for more information.
- Click on Reporting Crimes and Policy Violations for additional reporting information.
Contact a 24-hour hotline.
- Local domestic and sexual violence treatment centers offer emergency shelter, safety planning, counseling, and other advocacy services. Click on 24-Hour Hotlines and Local Services for contact numbers and more information.
Make a safety plan.
- Contact a 24-hour hotline for safety planning. A safety plan isn’t a safety guarantee, but it can help. Examples of important safety plan considerations include:
- Tell friends and others who you trust about your situation and develop a plan for when you need help. Tell them not to give out information about you to anyone.
- Teach and practice with your children how to reach safety and call '911.' Get to a safe place as soon as possible after an assault.
- Vary your daily schedule as much as you can and change your travel routes. Avoid being alone or alone with the perpetrator when possible.
- During an assault, consider negotiating, stalling for time, screaming, resisting, or what you think is best to survive. Submission is also a survival option (and not consent for abuse). Do your best to escape and avoid rooms where you might become trapped with the perpetrator or where weapons may be found that can be used against you.
Get medical attention.
- Get medical care as soon as possible for injuries, pregnancy prevention, STD and HIV testing, and testing for rape drugs.
- Get a rape forensic exam as soon as possible following a sexual assault. Federal law allows you to obtain this examination anonymously without having to report to or cooperate with law enforcement. Additional information on the forensic exam is available through the Victims' Rights link.
References
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (2001). Campus violence prevention resource guide.
Crime and Violence Prevention Center (2007). Domestic violence. California Attorney General's Office. Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://safestate.org/
Dating Violence Resource Center (no date). Is it abuse? dating violence. National Center for Victims of Crime. Retrieved May 14, 2008, at http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbID=DB_DVRCBrochure214
Violence against women and the department of justice reauthorization act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. §3796gg-4 (2005). Retrieved June 5, 2008, from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Department of Representatives at http://uscode.house.gov/