Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone. It is defined as any incident or pattern of controlling, coercive, threatening, physical violence, threatening behaviour or abusive behaviour between intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.

We run two domestic abuse services in Devon, providing support, advice and protection from domestic abuse, for men, women and children:

Our services empower people to live safely and free from fear or harm.

A representative image of domestic abuse.

National domestic abuse organisations

If you are not in immediate danger but would like to talk to someone about something you or someone you know is experiencing, please contact one of the following services who can offer you information and advice:

Women's Aid

Telephone: 0808 200 0247 (24 hours)
Email: helpline@womensaid.org.uk
Website: www.womensaid.org.uk

Men's Advice Line logo

Men's Advice Line

Helpline: 0808 801 0327 (Open Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm)
Email: info@mensadviceline.org.uk
Website: www.mensadviceline.org.uk

Action on elder abuse logo

Action on Elder Abuse

Helpline: 0808 808 8141 (Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm)
Email: enquiries@elderabuse.org.uk
Website: www.mensadviceline.org.uk

National Centre for Domestic Violence

Helpline: 0800 970 2070
Website: www.ncdv.org.uk

Disclaimer: Sanctuary Supported Living has no official partnership arrangement with these organisations.

Staying safe online

If you are concerned about an abuser monitoring or discovering your browsing history, the following tips will help you erase your browsing history.

The green "Go" button at the bottom of this page along with our TDAS and PDAS service pages will quickly take you to the BBC News homepage – but you will need to delete your browsing history afterwards.

Browsing privately

An effective way to cover your tracks is view websites in a private browsing window which will not appear in your browser’s history, web cache or cookies. Online services may still be able to monitor your activity (and use it to, for example, provide personalised ads) but it won’t leave a trace on your computer.

If you do this, always check that you’re in a private browsing window before visiting a site. Check below to find instructions for your browser.

Internet Explorer

Click on the round cog at the top right of the window, then go to Safety -> Tools - > InPrivate Browsing.

Firefox

Click on the three horizontal lines at the top right of the window, then click on ‘New Private Window’.

Chrome

Click on the three dots at the top right of the window, then click on ‘New Incognito Window’.

Safari

On a Mac: Click File -> ‘New Private Window’.

On an iPhone/iPad: Click the two squares at the bottom (iPhone) or top (iPad) of the window, then look for the ‘Private’ button.

A representative image of domestic abuse.

Deleting your browsing history

To find your browsing history, click hold Ctrl and press H – or Ctrl+Alt+H for Opera. Find any entries you want to remove, right-click on them and choose ‘Delete’. This won’t affect logins so if you have accounts set up on any websites (e.g. Facebook, Amazon), remember to log out of any you don’t want the abuser to know about.

If you have any search engine toolbars installed in the browser itself (i.e. they’re always there, regardless of the website), check they haven’t recorded your searches. They will have their own methods of deleting their search history that you can look up.

Email

Threatening or harassing emails from your abuser can be saved and/or printed as evidence of abuse. Emails you’ve written will be stored in the Sent/Outbox folders (or Drafts if unfinished).

If you don’t want anyone to see an email on your computer, print a copy if needed and then delete it. Reply emails will usually have the original email attached to them, whether on your computer or printed out.

Remember to also delete anything you don’t want from Deleted Items, if you’re using a dedicated email program such as Outlook or Thunderbird.

Browse safely

One alternative to Private Browsing is to use other computers e.g. a friend’s laptop or a computer at your local library to avoid leaving a trace on one of your own devices. Even deleting your Internet history won’t necessarily remove all traces of activity and this is one way around that.

Don’t neglect internet security though – sensitive data such as online banking is best handled on your own device.

PDAS Case Study: Anne

Anne* has been staying at SSL's Plymouth Refuge for nearly two months after escaping from the house she shared with her ex-partner.

Read Anne's story

TDAS Case Study: Claire

Claire* severed contact with her family, including her adult children and grandchildren, in order to escape the abuse she was enduring at home.

Read Claire's story

Latest news from our Domestic Abuse services

Blog

4 March 2020

Jodie's blog: March 2020

To mark International Women’s Day 2020, Jodie (a pseudonym) tells her inspirational story of overcoming horrific domestic abuse to become a strong, confident woman.