What Can You Do To Protect Yourself

First off let me state that I'm not a lawyer, so nothing legal can be construed from any suggestions I make. There are many things that may sound simple and stupid. But you must do these and others to protect yourself and potentially your children if you have any.

Contemporaneous Notes are notes made at the time or shortly after an event occurs. They represent the best recollection of what you witnessed. 

To protect yourself you should start with making effectively a dairy of sorts SHORTLY after the event. These notes of events that occur if repeated will show a history that can demonstrate abuse, the types, the regularity, your thoughts and feelings during and severity of the types of abuse or events. This does not need to be horrendously detailed - write as much as can. Pick a method that you can live with keeping up with as gaps because "....you didn't feel like...." or ".... got tired of...." is not good. These notes can be as simple as a running notepad or roughly formatted worddoc on your phone. Remember that these notes are in most instances will be given to your lawyer and possibly the police as evidence so it needs to be in printable or savage format.J

But please remember that this, no matter the format, must be hidden wherever you are keeping track whether it is cell, your computer, etc.

Now while not a lawyer, contemporaneous notes many times are allowed as evidence in court which is deadly important because it will provide the same level of insight as to what happened and possibly most importantly how it affected you and your feelings as if you were telling an actual person at the time. 

Many times it is better to save dates and types of events in a calendar form in addition to your contemporaneous notes. ESPECIALLY for info being handed over as evidence to the police for easy processing of information. This documentation can take the form as an outright calendar or even a word document or excel spreadsheet. Record keeping is a tedious and unforgiving process. So to make it to where you are regular with your record keeping, make your process as simple and palatable as you can. A simple format will allow for easy production of potential evidence if and when the time comes.

Pictures, "compromised" objects (broken/damaged), postings online of questionable social media, etc

One of the things you need to keep in mind is the laws of your state. Things that come to mind regularly are things such as making tape recordings etc. There are laws in each state regarding taking of hidden recordings with/without letting the other party know. While these can be good to give a solid no bad memory recollection of events for yourself and possibly an attorney or counselor/medical doctor, just remember that they not be able to be used in court.

PLEASE, AS A REVEREND, TELL SOMEONE. A family member. Your mommy or daddy. You Bashir older sister or your little brother who followed you everywhere. Your BFF. A neighbor. Your church. Hell your worst enemy. No wait - just kidding.

It is crucial that you tell someone before you come out of closet. You practice on them prior to reporting. That person could go with you when you do go. Hell what happens god forbid that something catastrophic physical happens to you. BY ALL THAT IS HOLLY, A SAFETY VALVE IS A MUST HAVE AND FIRST DONE. I learned that the hard way after my attempted murder.