Precautions such as code words, keeping petrol in the car, and having ready cash are all strategies women experiencing domestic violence should consider to increase their safety, an academic says.
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Joyce Wu – a Canberra scholar who formerly worked at the Women's Domestic Violence Crisis Service, a service that provides information and refuge referral services for women – has urged women subjected to domestic violence to develop a safety plan.
Ms Wu said a safety plan was a list of strategies to maximise the survivor's safety and regain some control while they continue to live with the perpetrator.
The first step in developing a safety plan was to identify risks, such as if the perpetrator owned firearms or weapons, the distance between home and safety, mobile phone reception issues, or transport options.
Then strategies are developed to address the risks, for example always keeping petrol in the car, having documents ready to take, and storing clothing and belongings with trusted families and friends.
Others include code words for when to call police, teaching children emergency numbers, carrying cash, and avoiding bathrooms and kitchens during conflicts as the rooms contain weapons and are hard to escape from.
"In this instance, having a safety plan is to increase the survivors' options, as well giving them back a bit of the control and power which had been taken away from them," Ms Wu wrote in a opinion piece on the issue.
"Having a safety plan is to increase the survivors' options, as well giving them back a bit of the control and power which had been taken away from them."
Ms Wu said the abuse survivors were subjected too, included beatings, being told they were ugly or worthless, and being told that the abuse was merely punishment.
Gradually, the survivor is desensitised, believing the lies and thinking of themselves as worthless.
"In this instance, creating a safety plan can be a reality check on just how much abuse you have to put up with from somebody who is supposed to love and cherish you."
But Ms Wu warned a plan did not guarantee safety and urged survivors to contact domestic violence counsellors for help.
She said the safety plans were useful for survivors who were not yet ready to leave or go to a refuge.
She said, often, concerns centred on how children would react to living in a refuge, and how that would disrupt their education.
Women were also concerned about how the perpetrator might react, as some could increase the level of violence in an attempt to regain control, she said.
"The safety plan is there for survivors while they weigh their options and working out what is best, from a limited range of choices."
But ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner John Hinchey urged caution accessing the domestic violence services, as it could put the survivor in danger.
Mr Hinchey said perpetrators sought to control their victims, and would escalate the abuse if they thought that control was under threat.
"Survivors are watched and watched closely, small changes in behaviour will alert the person doing the controlling that something is going on and that's where the danger lies," Mr Hinchey said.
"The women in these situations know the risks, they are the ones that know how to maintain these risks, they do so on a daily basis.
"They know that in formulating an action plan, they know they need to be careful and secretive."
Ironically, Mr Hinchey said the community conversation about domestic violence could also put survivors at risk.
"The more women become empowered or the sense in the community that something should happen, the more these perpetrators will escalate their behaviours to maintain control," Mr Hinchey said.
"It's concerning that, in the very act of speaking out, we run the risk of putting women at risk."
Online resources about safety planning, and how to use technology safely, can be found at dvcs.org.au.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
