Safety After Leaving

The period after leaving is often the most dangerous. This module covers what to expect and how to stay safer.

Why risk often increases after leaving

Planning your post-separation safety

Recognising and responding to stalking

Lesson Outline

Lesson outline

Step 1

Why risk often increases after leaving

Step 2

Planning your post-separation safety

Step 3

Recognising and responding to stalking

Step 4

Legal options for ongoing protection

Section 1

Why risk often increases after leaving

Research consistently shows that the period immediately after separation is when physical danger peaks.
An abuser may escalate — using threats, showing up unexpectedly, or involving children or family members — when they feel loss of control.
This is not a reason to stay. It is a reason to plan your exit and post-exit safety carefully.
Many survivors find that danger decreases significantly once they have legal protections in place and a strong safety network.

Section 2

Change your routine — routes to work, shopping patterns, and places you visit regularly.
Tell trusted people — workplace reception, children's school, trusted neighbors — that contact from the abuser is not welcome.
Change digital security immediately — passwords, location sharing, and any shared accounts or family apps.
Apply for a protection order as early as possible — it creates a legal record and a formal protection mechanism.

Section 3

Stalking includes repeated unwanted contact, following, monitoring online activity, and showing up at your location.
Document every incident with date, time, location, and what was said or done — this evidence supports legal action.
Do not respond to contact — any response signals that contact eventually works and may increase it.
Report stalking to police and ask for it to be recorded as a domestic violence-related matter, not a general nuisance complaint.

Section 4

Protection orders under the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act prohibit specified contact and can be obtained at the magistrates court.
Breach of a protection order is a criminal offence — keep a copy of the order with you at all times.
Legal aid organizations can assist with urgent applications at no cost — contact FIDA Kenya or your nearest Legal Aid Centre.
If police are slow to respond to breaches, document this and escalate through the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) or an NGO advocate.

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