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Keeping safe

You can take practical steps now to help keep yourself and your children safe

  • tell someone you trust about the abuse
  • call our 24 hour Helpline on 0808 800 0340
  • teach your children how to call 999 in an emergency, and tell them what they would need to say (their full name, address and telephone number)
  • have an escape route planned, so that in an emergency you and the children can get away safely
  • arrange a code word with your children that lets them know they need to leave or get help
  • pack an emergency bag for yourself your children, or if this is not safe, keep things that you might need quickly, together in safe places. Items such as benefit books, keys, money, bank cards, mobile phone, clothes for you and your children and children’s special toys. If possible leave these things with a friend, family member or at work. Remember, you can always return to collect other possessions with a police escort if you need to
  • keep important documents handy in a safe place (make photocopies if you can’t take originals):

passports
birth and marriage certificates
driving licence
address book and telephone numbers
wills
house documents
bank details, cheque books, credit cards, national insurance and NHS numbers
papers relating to the abuse (police reports and court orders)

  • if you can, arrange somewhere to stay in an emergency: a trusted friend or family member
  • try to keep your mobile phone with you and always know where the nearest phone is

 

If you think that you are in danger of attack, try and get out and get to a telephone. Stay away from areas where they may be knives or weapons such as the garages or the kitchen.
WAIS contact numbers:
Text Phone: 0808 800 0341
Telephone: 0115 947 5257
Helpline: 0808 800 0340

Next steps

If you would like to talk to someone in confidence about domestic abuse, call our free 24 hour Helpline on 0808 800 0340. We offer a listening ear and practical support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can also arrange emergency accommodation and refuge. Type talk and instant interpretation is also available.

 

 

Survivors handbook

If you are frightened for yourself or your children or concerned about someone else, there are things you can do to keep safe. National Womens Aid have produced a Survivors Handbook which gives easy to understand advice on every aspect of dealing with domestic violence, including how to keep yourself and your children safe, explains about your rights and the legal system, money and housing issues and also surviving after abuse.

 

You don’t have to put up with abuse. Women and children who are affected by domestic abuse have rights under the law and there is support waiting for you if you need it.
Helpline: 0808 800 0340 | Text Phone: 0808 800 0341 | Charity No: 1094012 | Company No: 4305710
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Address
WAIS (Women’s Aid Integrated Services)
30 Chaucer Street
Nottingham NG1 5LP
Phone
0115 947 5257
Fax
0115 947 2199
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