Supporting Victims

Other Ways to Support Victims

Helping a victim find safety can take on many different forms.

The most important way to support a victim is to offer to help connect them with trained advocates. Hubbard House is available 24/7/365 through our Domestic Violence Hotline at (904) 354-3114 and Textline at (904) 210-3698.

Ways You Can Help

  • Let the victim use your phone to call the Hubbard House Hotline, in case their partner is monitoring their phone.
  • Let the victim use your computer to do research about domestic violence and resources. Their abuser could have spyware on their computer, so using yours is a safer option.
  • Offer to let the victim leave some important documents, clothing, and similar items with you, as part of their safety plan.
  • Help the victim save money for safe housing or other needs they will have after leaving the relationship, by helping them set up a bank account or holding cash for them.
  • If the victim has a disability or is Deaf, help them secure back-ups for any assistive devices and/or information on critical resources. For example, can you store a spare walker or cane for them? Can you keep a copy of any prescriptions they need? Can you provide them information about interpreter services available through Hubbard House?
  • Develop one or more specific code words with the victim to let you know that they need your help. A code word should be something that can reasonably fit into conversation and has a specific meaning. You may have multiple code words. For example:
    • “How is the cat doing?” means “I need you to call the police.” If you don’t have a cat, the victim wouldn’t be asking you about it, so it’s a good code word phrase. If you do have a cat, the code word could be “How is the dog doing”, or something similar.
    • “I thought I was having Thai food for dinner, but we had something else.” means “Please send a taxi to the house so I can leave.”
    • “Your lawn looks great.” means “The kids are coming to your house right now because it’s not safe for them to be home.” This is best used with a close neighbor.

While you may also consider offering your home to the victim if they need to leave the relationship, please think carefully about whether this is the safest option. Leaving an abusive relationship can be a very dangerous time for the victim. If the abuser knows the victim would come to you for help, and if that person knows where you live, then the victim may not be safe, and you may be in harm’s way as well. Hubbard House’s shelter is a confidential location that can be a safe place for the victim.

Woman on the phone with a dog sitting next to her on a couch.
Woman in a wheelchair
Mother and daughters

YOU CAN’T HELP OTHERS UNLESS YOU ARE SAFE

Do not compromise your safety in order to help a victim. If you are closely supporting the victim, you should consider creating your own safety plan. Hubbard House is here for you, too!

You can also support victims by being an advocate for ending domestic violence. You can join Hubbard House staff or become a volunteer, donate to our life-saving work, or raise awareness among your social and professional groups!