When your partner, former partner, family member or carer realise you have left or you tell them you are leaving, do you know what their response may be? This is something you and the services working with you need to consider carefully to ensure your and your children's safety.

Some questions to consider are:

• will they become violent?
• will they look for me or try to contact me or the children?
• will they come to my work place, school, family members home or other place they know you go to?
• do they know your routine?
• will they make threats to find and/or harm you that you think they may carry out?
• will they be able to find your new home by following you home from work or school?
• if you have children, what steps will you take in the perpetrator still having access or declining them access if you feel that they pose a risk to your children? 

Sometimes in violent and abusive relationships, even once you have left, the perpetrator may try to find you. There are steps that you can take to make your one move be your only move.

These could include:

• moving away from your current area to an area they do not have links to
• taking legal steps to obtain a non-molestation order to prevent them approaching or making contact with you once you have left. In some instances, these can be awarded with a power of arrest so that if they are breached the Police can arrest immediately
• changing your telephone number to stop contact/harassment
• making sure you do not disclose your new address or temporary address over social media or to friends/family that may pass this information on

You may feel that if the abuse was not violent or threatening then you can remain safely in your own area which we may also be able to help you find.