Planning For Your Safety
A safety plan helps you to identify the steps that you can take to increase your personal safety. These steps help you to prepare for the possibility of further violence.
If I am starting to feel unsafe with my partner, I can:
- Ask my partner to leave. If he or she refuses, I can get help from my Resident Assistant, Community Advisor, Residence Hall Director, Apartment Manager or someone in my building, or I can call the police;
- Make sure that I have a ready excuse for why I need to leave;
- Have a code word or phrase that lets my friends know I need help. I will figure out ways to get this info to my friends without being detected;
- Pre-program 911 into my cell phone;
- Move to a room with easy access to an exit and avoid rooms like the kitchen or bathroom or anywhere with weapons.
If I need a safe place to go, I can:
- Contact _________to see if I can say with him/her;
- Arrange with friends ahead of time to stay at their place if necessary;
- Contact the local PD for an escort to a safe place;
- Call SHARPP for help in arranging an emergency place to stay.
Once my partner has left, I can do the following to help keep myself safe:
- Contact the local PD to report any crime that may have occurred. (i.e. grabbing, hitting, threatening, harassment);
- Contact the local court or Police to obtain a restraining order. A SHARPP advocate can help me with this process;
- Talk with my friends and other people in my building about ways to help me stay safe, including not propping the door and letting me know if my abuser is in the building;
- Call SHARPP for information and support regarding my options on what to do next;
- Make sure that any broken locks or windows are replaced. Work with your landlord or RHD to change or add locks, if necessary.
If I am injured as a result of my partner’s abuse, I can:
- Seek emergency medical assistance by dialing 911;
- Contact SHARPP, Health Services, my RHD or the UNH PD to arrange transport to Wentworth Douglass Hospital through MediCat;
- Have my injuries checked at Health Services.
An advocate from SHARPP can accompany me to any of these medical appointments.
For more long term help, I can:
- Contact SHARPP for additional support and options;
- Learn about my academic options if I find that my academic work is being impacted by this situation;
- Talk with a SHARPP advocate about if and how my parents should be notified;
- Request that disciplinary action be taken against my abuser through the Office of Conduct and Mediation if my abuser is also a UNH student. A SHARPP advocate can assist me in this process;
- Better understand my feelings about what has happened by getting help at the UNH Counseling Center or other mental health provider.
UNH Community Resources:
SHARPP: 862-7233 or 1-800-271-7233
UNH Police Department – 911 or 862-1427
Durham Police Department – 911 or 868-2324
Office of Affirmative Action and Equity 862-2930
Office of Conduct and Mediation – 862-3377
Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMSA) – 862-2050
Residential Life – 862-2268
UNH Counseling Center - 862-2090
UNH Health Services – 862-1530
UNH Housing – 862-2120
Wentworth Douglass Hospital (Dover) 740-2377