• Learn where to get help; memorize emergency phone numbers.
• Keep a phone in a room you can lock from the inside; if you can, get a cellular phone that you keep with you at all times.
• Open your own bank account.
• If the abuser has moved out, change the locks on your door; get locks on the windows.
• Plan an escape route out of your home; teach it to your children.
• Establish a "code word" or "sign" so that family, friends, teachers or co-workers know when to call for help.
• Get an unlisted phone number; block caller ID; use an answering machine; screen the calls.
• Take a good self-defense course.