Domestic Violence (cont.)

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Domestic violence often affects a domestic-violence survivor at the workplace. Your batterer may call you, stalk you, make threats against you or your children, or attack you at work. These efforts may be affecting your ability to work or jeopardize your job. You may be able to reduce the impact that violence has on your job through safety planning.

Talk with your employer about changes you both can make to your job that will improve your safety at work.

• Change your phone number or extension.
• Route your calls through the office receptionist.
• Keep your home address and telephone confidential.
• Request a transfer to a different desk, department, shift, or work site.
• Have a security guard or other coworker escort you to your car or to the nearest public transportation stop.
• Lock the door to your office or department.
• Register your protective order with the security department or security personnel.
• Post a picture of the batterer at the security desk and inform the security guards not to allow him or her into the building.
• Ask your employer to get a restraining order against your batterer for you in addition to your own restraining order.
• Commute to work with a coworker.
• Vary the route you take to get to work, or the time when you normally commute.
• Tell your employer the steps you are already taking to keep yourself safe.

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