- Dial 911.
- Contact a victims of crime organization or crisis hot-line.
- Cut ties with your stalker. You can talk with an advocate
- Ask a professional, family member, and/or friend to help you create a safety plan.
- Document your experience as accurately as possible.
- File a restraining order on the stalker. http://www.deafdawn.org/
Planning for Safety
- Use a P.O. Box for all your mail.
- Inform everyone who bills you (i.e. credit card, phone, electric, etc. companies) of your address change.
- Do not include your name on the tenants’ list posted at the entrance of your apartment building.
- Do not include your home address on business cards, stationary, and checks.
- Use credit bureaus to monitor and prevent any tampering of your accounts.
Take personal and family precautions:
- Do not list your phone number and address in any directories. Be very selective with those you give your phone number and address to.
- Do not share your address while speaking on the phone.
- If your stalker gets your phone number, than get an additional phone number and make sure the first one is connected to a voice mail which can be used to document all the stalker’s calls.
- Do not call 800, 888, 877, and 900 phone numbers because they use services that record telephone numbers.
- Protect the physical phone wiring (that enters your home) from any tampering.
- Ask family, friends, co-workers, etc., for support and give them information about the stalker so they know how to identify him/her.
- Use an air horn if necessary.
- Change up your routines and schedules week to week.
- Plan for worse case scenarios by knowing where safe and major public spaces (i.e. police station, malls, etc.) are and go there in case of an emergency.
- Use parking lots that are safe and secure. Do not use valet parking.
- Before entering your car, make sure no one is in it.
- Use a gas cap that can be locked and unlocked from inside the car.
- If you want to help someone on the road who has car problems, call someone else to help them (not you).
- When at work, ensure all packages and guests go through reception area; your parking space (if you have one) does not have your name on it; and all calls are screened (if necessary).
- Be aware of your surroundings and check to see if anyone is following you.
If you have children, consider taking the following steps:
- Teach them not to talk to strangers.
- Make sure you or someone you trust takes your children to where they need to be.
- Inform school authorities of any restraining orders.
- Keep a track of all adults who interact with your children.
- Make the following improvements to your home and install: wide-angle peephole door viewers on major doors; ample lighting outside and around the house (ex. porch light); dead bolt locks; locks on gate fences and the fuse box; an alarm system connected to a security company or the police; fire extinguishers and smoke detectors; timers for lights and the TV (to use when you are away for the evening); and ladders or ropes (for two-story homes).
- Lock house doors, garage doors, and windows.
- Trim trees and bushes thin and short enough so that no one can hide behind them. Clear the path so that you and your children can see.
- Get a dog if possible.
- Keep emergency phone numbers handy.
- Create an evacuation plan and make sure everyone in the house knows what to do in an emergency.
