4 Helpful Tips on Protecting Yourself from Domestic Violence

If you become involved in an abusive relationship, whether from a romantic partner, a family member, or any other relationship, it can be challenging to survive emotionally and physically. Taking your power back is necessary to protect yourself and avoid suffering from abuse in the future. Here are a few helpful tips on protecting yourself from domestic violence.

Secure a Restraining Order

One of the most useful ways to avoid contact with your abusive partner is to obtain a restraining order. Research the different types of restraining orders that are available to determine which will be most beneficial for your situation. Different types of restraining orders include no-contact orders, must leave orders, loss of custody orders, and others.

Get Help and Support

It can be difficult to protect yourself without the help and support of other people. Join a local domestic violence program to have access to professionals who are trained in helping victims in domestic violence. You can obtain emotional support, safe housing and counseling to protect yourself and have the resources needed to move on with your life.

Protect Your Privacy

Prevent your abuser from monitoring your activities by protecting your privacy. There are certain precautions you should take once you leave, which includes changing your usernames and passwords and adding privacy settings to all of your social media accounts. It's also important to get a new phone or make phone calls with a prepaid phone card. Avoid posting your whereabouts on social media and check your smartphone settings to ensure your phone is not being tracked with certain apps that may be installed.

Learn Self-Defense

If you're a victim to violence and have an abusive family member, learning self-defense can reduce your risk of injuries and allow you to feel more empowered as you begin to protect yourself. Enroll in a self-defense class where you can learn specific techniques that can increase your odds of surviving a violent encounter. Self-defense will not only boost your confidence but will improve your strength, balance, and flexibility, and help you to develop self-discipline. The training will also help you to become more aware of your surroundings, so that you can detect and respond to threats sooner and more effectively. You will learn conflict deescalation, setting and enforcing personal boundaries, and habits of personal safety. Learning a reality-based self-defense system is the single best thing you can do to protect yourself against any form of violence.

Domestic violence is traumatizing for the victim, and it shocks the conscience. While we make every effort to exercise the demons of domestic violence from our society, it is also necessary to take control of the situation as individuals, in order to defend and protect yourself from this unacceptable plague. With the right tools used, you can take action to help protect yourself and move toward freedom from abuse.