Focus on safety

Panel 1: Jesse and Keisha in bed, Keisha reading
Keisha: Oh no, he’s yelling at her again.
Jesse: That’s it, Keisha – I’m going over there! I’ll teach him a lesson!

Panel 2: Yelling in the background.
Keisha: No Jesse, you know that would only make things worse. And you might get hurt.

Panel 3: Yelling continues. Jesse holds his balled-up fist
Jesse: He needs to know you can’t treat someone like that. And he’s getting louder with each fight.

Panel 4: Jesse and Keisha speaking to each other
Keisha: You’re right. I was worried about her privacy before but abuse like this can’t stay private.
Jesse: Let’s just get her out of there now!

Panel 5:
Keisha: Look, we’d call the police right now if he was hurting her. But if she’s ready to move out, it can be dangerous without a safety plan.

Panel 6:  
Jesse: What do you mean?
Keisha: Before she leaves, she needs to call a victim service worker about how to stay safe from the time she leaves him.

Panel 7: Keisha speaking, thought bubble of a building
Keisha: A worker can get her to a shelter or transition house or another safe place while she could still be in danger.

Panel 8: Keisha counting ideas on her fingers
Keisha: They also know about things like taking ID, personal papers, and documents to do with money. Copies of his stuff too, if she can.

Panel 9:
Keisha: I know why you wanted to charge over to their apartment, honey. We'll see if we can get her alone and ask her if we can help.

Panel 10: Keisha wiping away a tear
Keisha: Let’s take a deep breath and keep the focus on safety. We can help a lot more with our heads and hearts, not our fists.