Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
and
Commission on Domestic Violence
Announce:
Domestic
Violence Safety Plan
A Word From The Chairs
Safety Tips For You And Your Family (English)
Sugrencias De Sefuridad Para Usted Y Su Familia (Espanol)
Message from the Chairs:
We are proud to announce that the Tort Trial & Insurance
Practice Section (TIPS), through the Law in Public Service Committee,
has joined forces with the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence to develop
and distribute a brochure that provides safety tips for victims of domestic
violence. Let us briefly explain why the need for these safety brochures
is so great and how you can help.
There is no doubt that perpetrators of domestic violence wreak
havoc within their families, causing physical and psychological damage.
This violence reverberates in the workplace; generally, 70 percent of
domestic violence victims are employed and over 70 percent of them report
that the abusers harass them at work either over the telephone or in person.
Perpetrators cause over 60 percent of the victims to be either late to
and/or absent from work. The answer is not to fire the employee/victim,
although sadly that often has been the corporate response. As an alternative,
in order to help the employee while preserving the corporate investment
in that employees training and work, the most valuable contribution
the employer can make to its employee is to be supportive of the victims
and to assist them in keeping safe. The attached safety brochure provides
critical information for victims of domestic violence in a short, direct
and easy to use form.
You can help this cause, and also help your
corporate clients, by introducing this program to your clients
and urging them to participate by distributing the safety
brochure in their workplace. We have 100,000 brochures available
for immediate distribution. The ABA is committed to promoting
this project through a media campaign. The TIPS Law in Public
Service Committee, in conjunction with the ABA Commission on
Domestic Violence, will be selecting up to ten participating
businesses around the country to showcase in a media campaign.
This is a "win win" situation in that the participating
companies will be providing its employees with a benefit while at
the same time the companies will be receiving national
recognition for its efforts. Of course the employees are the
ultimate winners in that information will be available to them on
how to stay safe and how to locate available resources for help
should they become victims of domestic violence.
Major corporations, such as Polaroid, Liz Claiborne, Marshalls,
and the Body Shop, have already taken a stand against domestic violence
by developing public service campaigns. AFC Enterprises, Inc., the parent
company of Church's Chicken, has already committed to participate by placing
brochures in its Atlanta stores. Your client can also participate in this
new project designed to reach victims on a national level.
Please take this information to your clients and obtain a commitment to distribute
the brochures throughout their work place. For additional
information or brochures (available in hard copy or on diskette), contact
Sonia Schroeder in ABA TIPS. Please provide her with the names of your
clients that have committed to this project and let her know the number
of brochures that are required and the name of the contact person to whom
brochures and implementation packets should be sent. Angela can be reached
as follows:
Sonia Schroeder
American Bar Association
Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
750 North Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60611
312/988-6229
Fax: 312/988-6230
E-mail: schroeders@staff.abanet.org
Thank you very much for your help with this
very important project.
Very truly yours,
Dianne K. Dailey
Chair, ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
Michael A. Bedke
Co-Chair, ABA Commission on Domestic Violence
Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin
Co-Chair, ABA Commission on Domestic Violence
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
Safety Tips For You And Your Family
IF YOU ARE IN DANGER, CALL 911
or your local police emergency number
To find out about help in your area, call:
National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-SAFE
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
Whether or not you feel able to leave an
abuser,
there are things you can do to make yourself and your family
safer.
IN AN EMERGENCY
If you are at home & you are being threatened or
attacked:
- Stay away from the kitchen (the abuser can
find weapons, like knives, there)
- Stay away from bathrooms, closets or small
spaces where the abuser can trap you
- Get to a room with a door or window to escape
- Get to a room with a phone to call for help;
lock the abuser outside if you can
- Call 911 (or your local emergency number) right
away for help; get the dispatcher's name
- Think about a neighbor or friend you can run to for
help
- If a police officer comes, tell him/her what
happened; get his/her name & badge number
- Get medical help if you are hurt
- Take pictures of bruises or injuries
- Call a domestic violence program or shelter
(some are listed here); ask them to help you make a
safety plan
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AT HOME
- Learn where to get help; memorize emergency phone
numbers
- Keep a phone in a room you can lock from the
inside; if you can, get a cellular phone that you
keep with you at all times
- If the abuser has moved out, change the locks on
your door; get locks on the windows
- Plan an escape route out of your home; teach
it to your children
- Think about where you would go if you need to escape
- Ask your neighbors to call the police if they
see the abuser at your house; make a signal for them
to call the police, for example, if the phone rings
twice, a shade is pulled down or a light is on
- Pack a bag with important things you'd need if
you had to leave quickly; put it in a safe place, or
give it to a friend or relative you trust
- Include cash, car keys & important information
such as: court papers, passport or birth
certificates, medical records & medicines,
immigration papers
- Get an unlisted phone number
- Block caller ID
- Use an answering machine; screen the calls
- Take a good self-defense course
HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHILDREN SAFER
- Teach them not to get in the middle of a fight,
even if they want to help
- Teach them how to get to safety, to call 911,
to give your address & phone number to the police
- Teach them who to call for help
- Tell them to stay out of the kitchen
- Give the principal at school or the daycare center
a copy of your court order; tell them not to
release your children to anyone without talking to
you first; use a password so they can be sure it is
you on the phone; give them a photo of the abuser
- Make sure the children know who to tell at school
if they see the abuser
- Make sure that the school knows not to give your
address or phone number to ANYONE
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF OUTSIDE THE
HOME
- Change your regular travel habits
- Try to get rides with different people
- Shop and bank in a different place
- Cancel any bank accounts or credit cards you
shared; open new accounts at a different bank
- Keep your court order and emergency numbers with
you at all times
- Keep a cell phone & program it to 911 (or
other emergency number)
HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF SAFER AT WORK
- Keep a copy of your court order at work
- Give a picture of the abuser to security and
friends at work
- Tell your supervisors - see if they can make
it harder for the abuser to find you
- Don't go to lunch alone
- Ask a security guard to walk you to your car
or to the bus
- If the abuser calls you at work, save voice mail and
save e-mail
- Your employer may be able to help you find community
resources
USING THE LAW TO HELP YOU
Protection or Restraining Orders
- Ask your local domestic violence program who can help
you get a civil protection order and who can help you
with criminal prosecution
- Ask for help in finding a lawyer
In most places, the judge can:
- Order the abuser to stay away from you or your
children
- Order the abuser to leave your home
- Give you temporary custody of your children
& order the abuser to pay you temporary child
support
- Order the police to come to your home while
the abuser picks up personal belongings
- Give you possession of the car, furniture and
other belongings
- Order the abuser to go to a batterers intervention
program
- Order the abuser not to call you at work
- Order the abuser to give guns to the police
If you are worried about any of the following, make sure
you:
- Show the judge any pictures of your injuries
- Tell the judge that you do not feel safe if
the abuser comes to your home to pick up the children
to visit with them
- Ask the judge to order the abuser to pick up and
return the children at the police station or some
other safe place
- Ask that any visits the abuser is permitted are at
very specific times so the police will know by
reading the court order if the abuser is there at the
wrong time
- Tell the judge if the abuser has harmed or
threatened the children; ask that visits be
supervised; think about who could do that for you
- Get a certified copy of the court order
- Keep the court order with you at all times
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
- Show the prosecutor your court orders
- Show the prosecutor medical records
about your injuries or pictures if you have
them
- Tell the prosecutor the name of anyone who is
helping you (a victim advocate or a lawyer)
- Tell the prosecutor about any witnesses to
injuries or abuse
- Ask the prosecutor to notify you ahead of time if
the abuser is getting out of jail
BE SAFE AT THE COURTHOUSE
- Sit as far away from the abuser as you can;
you don't have to look at or talk to the abuser; you
don't have to talk to the abuser's family or friends
if they are there
- Bring a friend or relative with you to wait
until your case is heard
- Tell a bailiff or sheriff that you are afraid
of the abuser and ask him/her to look out for you
- Make sure you have your court order before you
leave
- Ask the judge or the sheriff to keep the abuser
there for a while when court is over; leave
quickly
- If you think the abuser is following you when you
leave, call the police immediately
- If you have to travel to another State for work or
to get away from the abuser, take your protection
order with you; it is valid everywhere
For brochures or a diskette containing the above
information, please contact Sonia Schroeder, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, at 312-988-6229 or via e-mail at schroeders@staff.abanet.org.
A complete materials distribution kit is also available by
request.
For additional information on domestic violence, please
visit the ABA Commission on
Domestic Violence.
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