Click Here for Simple Steps to Protect Yourself

Turning Point  provides the Escape Button  in the event
that you may be discovered by your abuser while viewing this website.
The Escape Button may be found just below the logo
and at the bottom of the menu.



CLICK HERE TO ESCAPE!

Clicking on the Escape Button will immediately take you to:

We think this procedure will arouse less suspicion than simply closing your browser window or shutting off your computer and is less likely to incite an abuser to violence. We chose the Google page because it loads quickly.

Of course, nothing is foolproof and an abuser who is familiar with computers would be able to trace your browsing back to this website. Our hope is that if there is no immediate evidence on your monitor screen, there will be no cause for suspicion on the abuser's part and no reason to investigate further.

Please remember to follow the instructions below and erase any evidence of your visit as soon as it's safe to do so.

CAUTION

If you bookmark this or any other site about domestic violence, your abuser can find out that you have been getting information on domestic violence. If you can, clear all cache/history files from your web browser. You may want to access this site from somewhere other than home. See instructions below for eliminating traces to browsing the internet for domestic violence web pages.

Instructions for Internet Explorer


To delete temporary internet files, cookies, and pages listed in your History:

  1. On the menu at the top of the browser window, click on Tools>Internet Options...

  2. In the dialog window that opens, click on the "General" tab.

  3. In the section labeled "Temporary Internet Files", if you wish to delete all the files and cookies, click on the "Delete Files..." button. A confirmation dialog will open asking if you want to delete all files in your temporary internet folder. Click "OK".

  4. If you wish to selectively delete files and cookies, click on the "Settings..." button. A dialog window will open. Click on the "View Files..." button. A window will open with a list of all your temporary internet files and cookies. You can highlight the files you wish to delete and hit the delete key or click Edit>Delete.

  5. To empty the History folder, click on the "Clear History" button and then the "OK" button.


Instructions for Netscape


To delete pages listed in your History:

  1. Click on Communicator>Tools>History on the menu bar at the top of your browser window.

  2. When the History window opens, highlight the addresses you want to delete and hit the delete key on your keyboard or click on Edit>Delete on the menu bar.

  3. If you wish to clear the History file, click on Edit>Select All then Edit>Delete.


To empty your cache:

  1. Click on Edit>Preferences on the menu bar at the top of your browser window.

  2. When the Preferences window opens, click on the "+" sign in front of "Advanced" in the frame on the left then click on "Cache" to open the cache dialog.

  3. In the Cache dialog window, click on the "Clear Memory Cache and the "Clear Disk Cache buttons and click on the "OK" button to close the window.

There's no simple mechanism for deleting cookies in Netscape. At the same time though, it's not very easy to locate the cookies that are placed on your computer when using Netscape. If you want to delete the cookies in Netscape, you have to open "Windows Explorer" and browse to the "Netscape" folder which is usually in your "Program" folder on your "C" drive. In the "Netscape" folder is a folder called "Users". Open "Users" and then the "default" folder contained within. In the "default" folder there's a file called "cookies.txt". You can delete that file without harming your computer but all your cookies will be removed and some websites that you visit frequently may not recognize you when you return. If you double click the file name, it will open in Notepad and you can edit out the cookies related to domestic violence websites you've visited despite the fact that it says you can't edit the file.


Here is a sample of what the file looks like and if editing, a sample section that you would delete is highlighted.

.altavista.com TRUE / FALSE 1474351208 AV_USERKEY
AVSdf91fd7cba00364754310ac0003dfe
.lycos.com TRUE / FALSE 2128565745 p_uniqid
418/NMTYVx52uamutB
.turningpointservices.org TRUE / FALSE 123456789 id
5no23nhrn3709u0u43
www.britannica.com FALSE / FALSE 1237487646 ssuid
2wA2865543djg2754be8UNYxF9H0

 

Cookies
 

Each time you access websites, "cookies" can be created. Cookies are cryptic bookmarks that a Web site can place on your computer to acknowledge your prior visit, authenticate your access or let you continue on through a site from where you last left off. They are really no big deal and will not do anything to damage your computer, however, they can leave a trail of evidence of where you have been on the web. If you visit a website on domestic violence and a cookie is created as a result of that visit, your abuser can trace your trail and discover where you've been.