The goal of safety planning is to help a survivor remain safe from the perpetrator and prevent future harm. Safety planning may also reduce sexual assault survivors’ overall fear and help restore their sense of autonomy and control; this can both empower victims and aid their healing. Safety planning with victims of non-intimate partner sexual assault is different than safety planning with victims of domestic violence in a variety of ways. For example, the majority of jurisdictions do not yet have civil protection orders for victims of non-intimate partner sexual assault. The survivor may not know the perpetrator’s name or address, or may know this but nothing more.

Whether it is a single incident or an ongoing pattern of abuse, sexual assault can undermine a victim’s physical and emotional safety. This guide is designed to help advocates and attorneys work with survivors of non-intimate partner sexual assault to identify potential threats and create a safety plan tailored to the individual’s needs and concerns. An effective safety plan empowers the victim to reclaim a sense of safety and security by addressing immediate safety needs and outlining strategies to help reduce future incidents of harm. Unfortunately, constructing and implementing a safety plan cannot ensure that an individual will not face violence again; its goal is to help survivors be as safe as possible given their current life circumstances.