It says to be brief and to the point, but this sis a long story, so I can't really be too brief.
Ok, I'm from NY. My girlfriend's parents have been abusing her since she was 4 (she's 14 now). So has her older brother (he's 18 now). Mostly it's been physical abuse. They used to spank when she was younger- I know that's legal, but they would do it to the point that it was abuse. They'd usually do it for 5 minutes or more, at least once a day. They would do it up to the point that they'd leave bruises. The thing is, they kept "spanking" her up until now. I mean, is spanking a 14 year old girl legal? Isn't that almost sexual harassment? That's just one of my many questions. Anyway, 2 months ago her mom spanked her for 45 minutes while her older brother sat on her. She did it with a 2 inch thick stick. It left bruises and several open wounds. So she went to the police and they took her out of her home. CPS got involved but for some reason quickly backed out. Then she got sent back home. Her parents stopped physically abusing her, but they kept verbally abusing her, and were denying her any contact with the outside world. She wasn't allowed to use phones, internet, and she wasn't allowed to leave the house. So she ran away to a youth shelter, where she stayed for a month. While she was there she charged her father with sexual abuse (there's no doubt in my mind that he did it either). After a month though, she was sent back home. Just todayt she ran away a third time. Tomorrow is criminal court. Her mom is being charged with 3rd degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. She (my girlfriend) wants to push it into family court, and get put in a foster home, but for some reason, no one is listening to her. She may not even get a chance to speak in court! Even if it's physically safe for her at home, should she be made to go back? It still may be dangerous for her mentally and emotionally. She has a lot of emotional problems, like many abuse victims do. And no matter what happens, she'll be miserable at home, probably suicidal. But for some reason everyone seems to be on her parents side and won't listen to her... what can we do in this situation? Doesn't she have a say in where she goes? I know she's only 14 but no matter what she doesn't want to live with her parents...what can she do? | 
05-29-2001, 02:38 PM
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