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COPYRIGHT 2010 Lillian Smith Family Violence Foundation. All rights reserved.
If you or someone you know has either been physically and/or sexually assaulted - that means hit, slapped, punched, pushed, kicked, raped, molested, stalked or even threatened or harassed - by either a family member, household member, dating partner, caretaker or babysitter, then a crime has been committed, just as if it were committed by a stranger. If you want help, assistance is available 24/7.
You are not alone.
For emergency assistance, call 911 for local police or paramedics. But please keep in mind that most police forces can only respond while an act is taking place or after. In smaller communities, police may be better able to intervene before an act of violence takes place.
Employing a body guard service may be the best alternative to prevent a crime.
For non-emergency assistance, call one of the Hotline phone numbers listed on this page. Free, confidential help from a trained,
HOTLINE NUMBERS
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
1-866-331-9474
1-866-331-8453 (TTY)
1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929)
1-800-4-A-CHILD (422-4453)
1-800-252-5400
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FAMILY VIOLENCE
FOUNDATION
Stay Informed!
compassionate advocate is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (including holidays) to provide either crisis intervention, a referral to a community resource or a friendly voice to whom you can talk about your problem.
If you need help exposing an abuser, corruption in the courts or want to try to change a law - then contact our Foundation. Since 2006 we have arranged hundreds of news stories locally and nationwide, exposing the acts of abusers and educating the public where to go and whom to call to deal with them properly.
Don't Leave Without First Developing a Safety Plan
If you are in a potentially dangerous situation and you can leave without being harmed, do so immediately. But please keep in mind that attempting to leave can also be one of the most dangerous things you can do, unless you have first developed a safety plan.
Weeks before you attempt to leave - with the help of a family member, friend or domestic violence counselor at a women's shelter at no cost - you should determine where you will go, how you're going to get there and what you need to take with you - especially if you have to leave quickly. Ideally, have a bag already packed so you can leave at a moment's notice.
Protection Orders Are Better Than Restraining Orders
If you feel afraid or in danger, you should also obtain a protection order from either your county district attorney's office or a women's shelter. This paperwork from a local court orders the person whom you fear to leave you and/or other family members alone and not come within a certain distance of you or another family member or face being arrested. The order generally lasts for 90-120 days and it can be renewed.
You must show sufficient cause to obtain it but, once approved, police are ordered to arrest whomever breaks the order immedidately after he breaks it. It takes the guesswork out of a messy situation. If a restraining order is issued, you must go to court to prove someone has broken the order before an arrest can be made.
Please keep in mind that a simple piece of paper will not protect you from an abuser determined to harm you, but it will prove to police and the courts that you at least tried to protect yourself and diffuse a dangerous situation. If you do not have a protective order, the police and courts may not believe you if you have to defend yourself or testify in court.
No one deserves to be hurt. It's just as much a crime for someone to harm a family member as it is to hurt someone outside the home. Violations can result in jail time, probation, community service and/or fines.
Even if you've only been threatened - or just feel like you're in danger - the first thing you should do is call and tell someone. Contact a family member, a friend, an employer - any one whom you can trust. Once the violence starts, it rarely stops without intervention from either family, friends or police.
If you're a person who is hurting or bullying someone else, please stop and get help for your problem before you either seriously injure someone, lose a relationship with the person you're hurting or are taken away to jail in handcuffs.
Remember, you're not alone! There are many free and low-cost family service agencies and other community resources established to help you. These Hotlines will assist you to find many of them.
If you have committed any of these criminal acts against a family or household member, dating partner or child of a partner, and you want help with stopping this unacceptable, illegal behavior, then help is also available for you.
You are not alone.
Is He Hurting You?
Get Free Help 24/7
1-800-799-SAFE
National Domestic Violence Hotline
