Free tool · Scarlet Beast En español →

When home isn’t safe

For anyone being hurt, threatened, watched or controlled by a partner, someone they date, or someone they live with, and for the people who worry about them. Find out what’s happening, make a safety plan, and reach an advocate. What’s happening is not your fault.

If you’re in danger right now

Call 911. If you can’t talk, stay on the line. In many areas you can also text 911.
Talk to an advocate, 24/7: National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. En español: espanol.thehotline.org.
Too much, or you don’t want to be here? Call or text 988, any hour.

This page saves nothing. No account, no cookies, no stored plan and no analytics: what you type disappears when you close the page. It will still show up in your browser history, so a private or incognito window may be safer. Press Leave quickly (bottom left), or Esc twice, to swap this page for a weather site. How we handle privacy.

The short version

In danger? Call 911. Move toward a room with a way out, away from the kitchen and anywhere with weapons.
Talk to an advocate: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. Any hour. You don’t have to give your name.
Abuse isn’t only hitting. Controlling your phone, money, friends or choices, threats and humiliation are abuse too.
Leaving can be a risky time. Plan it quietly, with an advocate if you can.
It’s not your fault. Whatever you decide, you deserve to be safe.

With JavaScript on, this page has a checklist of warning signs, a safety plan and a go-bag list you can print, phone and computer safety tips, and help for friends and family.

Good to know

Abuse is about control

It can be physical, sexual, emotional, financial or digital. It often starts small and grows. A single pattern (checking, isolating, threatening) can matter as much as a single blow.

You don’t need proof to call

Advocates talk with people who aren’t sure, who plan to stay, who have already left, and who are worried about someone else.

Choking is a serious warning sign

If someone has ever choked or strangled you, advocates treat it as a sign the danger could grow. Please tell an advocate or a doctor, even if it was “only once”.

People can change

If you’re the one causing harm, help exists. Changing starts with stopping, and with taking responsibility without excuses.

More help

Need food or a place to sleep in New York City? Our checked list of shelters and food. Elsewhere, call or text 211.
Hard to say it out loud? Speak for me helps you find the words.
Worried you might not stay safe from your own thoughts? Make a suicide safety plan.
Anger getting the better of you? When anger takes over.
All our free tools and Get help now.

General information from people who care, not legal or medical advice. Laws and services differ from place to place, and an advocate can tell you what applies where you live. If you’re in danger, call 911.

This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The phone numbers were checked on each service’s own website in September 2026. Scarlet Beast is not a domestic violence program and can’t respond to emergencies. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].