How to Let Your Friends help You
If you are the domestic violence victim, let the people who care about you help you.
1. Confide in someone you trust. If you have a friend or relative who cares about your safety, tell them about the abuse. Sharing a burden with someone makes it lighter. If you’ve left your abusive relationship and are feeling lonely and tempted to return, talk it out with a friend who knows the situation.
2. Don’t get talked into taking action that doesn’t feel right to you. You are the only one who knows if you’re ready to leave your relationship, or go to the police, or seek emergency shelter. Make your own decisions, based on your own comfort level.
3. Leave an “emergency stash” with a friend. This could include extra money, a set of car keys, a change of clothes and copies of important documents that may come in handy in an emergency. Think of what you might need if you have to leave your home in a hurry.
4. Ask a friend to accompany you to important appointments. If you have medical appointments, or are going to the police, or to court, or to see a lawyer, take a friend along for moral support.
5. Discuss this booklet with a friend. Go over the Power & Control and Equality wheels. Discuss the types of abuse you are experiencing. Discuss your emergency plans.
6. Make sure a friend knows about your Personal Safety Plan. Ahead you will see how to start making your own Personal Safety Plan. Go over them with a friend and give that friend a copy of the plan.CONTENTS