ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a unique safety planning tool designed to address the gap in safety planning responses. The new tool is intended to help women living with intimate partner violence, especially outside of large urban areas, to assess their situation and strategically mitigate their risk of harm even if they have decided to stay or return to the abuse. The chapter summarizes the findings of a New Brunswick study to validate this tool by exploring the ways in which it resonates with local service providers and addresses the social, cultural, and economic realities of women living with an abusive partner. The safety planning tool is written in plain language and contains three steps. It is intended to be self-administered. Women can complete it by themselves or with someone they trust. The participants quickly validated the factors that tend to keep rural women in abusive relationships. Some of the service providers had experience with safety planning.
