Steps to take to help a friend or family member living in violence

• Tell them you are concerned for their safety.
• Acknowledge how scary the situation is.
• Always be supportive of their feelings.
• Do not judge their decision to stay or leave.
• Do not allow them to become isolated by their abuser.
• Encourage them to talk with professionals at a crisis center for battered women or local battered women’s shelter.
• Encourage them to have a safety plan.
• Never say mean things about their partner; they will only defend them and feel they have to stay in the relationship.
• Do not feel you have to rescue them; allow them to find their way out of the situation, if that is what they want.

If someone you know is in a violent situation, be supportive, validate their feelings, and give them the number to the Minnesota Toll-Free Domestic Violence Crisis Line: 1-866-223-1111.