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Safety
plans offer sense of control in high-risk situations Women in abusive relationships derive a degree of security from drawing up their own safety plans for coping with potential crises, says Cathie Caverly. Cathie is the outreach counsellor with the Women's Safety Network at the YWCA of Peterborough Victoria and Haliburton. "Women feel this degree of control because the safety plans get her thinking in some really concrete terms about safety," she says. Roma Rees, private therapist with Rees, MacMillan and Associates agrees. "Generally, for most people, they get a sense of security in knowing that they have that information, or a plan for how they would access the [needed] information," she says. "Lots of times in a crisis situation, it's very difficult to think clearly about where to go, who to call. It's hard to pull stuff together." Both Cathie and Roma help women who are in abusive relationships, or who have left abusive relationships, plan how to deal with emergency situations. "If she's in a situation where's she still in the home [with the abusive partner], we would look at what to do during an explosive incident," says Cathie. This might include identifying which doors, windows and/or elevators to use if flight was required. It might also include making up a code word to use with the children, instructing them to the run to the neighbours, for example. Roma says she will also help women put together a list of emergency telephone numbers. If it's too dangerous for the woman to carry the list around, they might discuss where to put this information so that it can be easily accessed. Planning around making preparations to leave the abusive relationship would also come into play during discussion about the safety plan. Identifying resources available in the area for women would be a part of that. "We would also talk about safety once the woman is in her new home, which can often be the most dangerous point in the relationship," says Cathie. Discussion around safety in the workplace or in public would be included there. For instance, in the workplace, is there someone who can be trusted with information about the abusive partner? Can someone screen incoming calls? Does the woman need to show the person at the front desk a picture of her abusive partner? Is there someone who can walk her to her car? Safety planning also includes thinking about the children, says Cathie. "We talk with the women about whether the school knows what's happening. Have you spoken to the principal? Does the school know you are the only person that can pick up the children?…All of this is really important as well, so that the woman feels that her kids are safe in school." Both Roma and Cathie say safety plans are really
primarily about thinking ahead and thinking in practical ways about how
to cope with what could be ahead. They're all individualized according
to the needs of each person. |
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