In a Confidential Address

Here are some suggestions to try to help keep you safe and to prevent the abuser from learning where you live if you’ve moved to a confidential location.

• Whenever you have to give out your address (such as at a doctor’s office or with a magazine subscription), use an address that’s different from the one where you’re actually living. For example, think about renting a P.O. Box from your post office or ask a friend if you can use her address.
• Be aware that addresses can be listed on restraining orders and police reports. Before filling out your new address on any forms, ask if there’s any way to keep your address confidential. If not, see if you can use the P.O. box or a friend’s address instead.
• Ask the telephone company to make your new address and phone number unlisted in the phonebook.
• Call the telephone company to request caller ID and to block unlisted calls so that you can see the number of anyone who calls you. Ask that your phone number be blocked so that if you call someone else no one will learn your new, unlisted phone number.
• Be careful about ever giving out your new address and phone number.
• If you can, change the hours you work.
• Keep a certified copy of your restraining order with you at all times, if you have one.
• If you have children, let their school know what is going on.
• Consider changing your children’s schools or, at the very least, change the route that you use to get them to school. Drop them off at a different school entrance if possible.
• Reschedule appointments that you made before leaving that the abuser may know about.
• Take a different route to the grocery store, bank, restaurants, and any other place you go on a regular basis or find new ones if you can.
• Consider telling your new neighbors about the situation. Make a plan with them for when you need help. Have a signal, like flashing the lights on and off or hanging something out the window, to tell them you need help in case the abuser gets into your home and you can’t get to the phone to call 911.
• Talk to people you trust that you just left an abusive relationship so that they are on alert if they see anything suspicious around your home.
• Put dead bolt locks on your doors. If you can, replace any wood doors with steel or metal doors. If you rent your home, be sure to talk to your landlord first before changing doors or even locks.
• If you have the money, think about installing a security system.
• Try to make sure that the outside of your house is well-lit. Think about getting a lighting system that lights up when a person is coming close to the house (i.e. motion-sensitive lights).
• Keep bushes, trees, and other plants around your house well-trimmed. That way, you’ll be able to see if someone approaches your home. Trimmed bushes would also make it harder for the abuser to hide in the bushes without being seen by a passerby or neighbor.
• If you feel that it would not negatively affect your job, you might want to tell people you work with about the situation. See if a receptionist or someone else can screen your calls.
• Explain your situation to anyone who takes care of your children or anyone who pick them up from school. If the abuser is not allowed to be near the children, let these people know this and even give them a copy of your restraining order.
• Carry a cell phone if you can, but don’t completely depend on this phone. Cell phones may not get good service in some places, and batteries do run out. Ask your local domestic violence organization if they give out cell phones – if so, get one as a backup to the cell phone that you already have. Have emergency numbers like 911 on speed dial. You may also be eligible for a free phone with free minutes from the Assurance Wireless Program, sponsored by Virgin Moble.
• If you need help in a public place, yell “FIRE!” People respond more quickly to someone yelling “fire” than to any other cry for help.
• Stay in touch with your local domestic violence organization and/or mental health service providers for support. To find a domestic violence organization near you, go to our Advocates and Shelters page.
• Get a full check-up with your doctor to see if you need medical treatment. Keep in mind that the abuser may not have been faithful and you may want to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases.