What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
Okay, I've been contemplating this for far too long now. Now that I have the opportunity to ask others for advice, that's just what I'll do (I only recently discovered freeadvice forums or I'd have asked sooner). And so here is my story.
My girlfriend's mother is abusive to her. Hits her, breaks her down mentally, and is sickeningly critical of her in every possible way she can be. A couple months ago her mom started acting strange. For the first few months her and I were dating, things were mostly fine. Her and her mother hadn't been having a lot of arguements or anything like that. Somewhere along the line however, her mom took a turn for the worse and basically became bitter and hostile toward her daughter. She would come into school with new bruises and marks on a regular basis. My girlfriend is utterly and completly petrified of her mother, and I can see why.
Shortly after her mom became this way, she kicked my girlfriend out of their house (for reasons undisclosed to me- personally I don't think the reason makes a difference). I went to visit my girlfriend the next day at her Aunt and Uncle's house where she'd spend the next two or three days. When I got there and saw her I was horrified at what her mother had done. Nearly the entire left side of my girlfriend's head had been bruised and beaten, along with her arms and legs. In fact, even her ear was bruised. That may not be a surprise but to me it was; I had never seen an ear bruise before (or anything else composed of cartilage for that matter). She was so sensitive to any kind of physical contact that day- I had to be careful when I hugged her so that I wouldn't hurt her.
Sorry. I don't mean to write a book here so I'll wrap it up for you. Basically, I've been tempted to call anonymously and report her mother for child abuse. I haven't up to this point basically because my girlfriend didn't want me to for fear that her mother would abuse her more once she found out she was being investigated (though I've been told that's unlikely because then her mother's abuse will be very very obvious to children & youth services). My only hesitation now is that I'm unable to talk to my girlfriend (mother's orders) at all and it's nearly impossible for me to know if there will be marks on her from her mother when she is interviewed. Without evidence, it's unlikely that the people from children & youth services would be able to do anything for her.
Please....any advice, thoughts, and/or input would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you so much.
*for the record I am 18 and my girlfriend recently turned 17 (don't know if that's important or not)
Okay, I've been contemplating this for far too long now. Now that I have the opportunity to ask others for advice, that's just what I'll do (I only recently discovered freeadvice forums or I'd have asked sooner). And so here is my story.
My girlfriend's mother is abusive to her. Hits her, breaks her down mentally, and is sickeningly critical of her in every possible way she can be. A couple months ago her mom started acting strange. For the first few months her and I were dating, things were mostly fine. Her and her mother hadn't been having a lot of arguements or anything like that. Somewhere along the line however, her mom took a turn for the worse and basically became bitter and hostile toward her daughter. She would come into school with new bruises and marks on a regular basis. My girlfriend is utterly and completly petrified of her mother, and I can see why.
Shortly after her mom became this way, she kicked my girlfriend out of their house (for reasons undisclosed to me- personally I don't think the reason makes a difference). I went to visit my girlfriend the next day at her Aunt and Uncle's house where she'd spend the next two or three days. When I got there and saw her I was horrified at what her mother had done. Nearly the entire left side of my girlfriend's head had been bruised and beaten, along with her arms and legs. In fact, even her ear was bruised. That may not be a surprise but to me it was; I had never seen an ear bruise before (or anything else composed of cartilage for that matter). She was so sensitive to any kind of physical contact that day- I had to be careful when I hugged her so that I wouldn't hurt her.
Sorry. I don't mean to write a book here so I'll wrap it up for you. Basically, I've been tempted to call anonymously and report her mother for child abuse. I haven't up to this point basically because my girlfriend didn't want me to for fear that her mother would abuse her more once she found out she was being investigated (though I've been told that's unlikely because then her mother's abuse will be very very obvious to children & youth services). My only hesitation now is that I'm unable to talk to my girlfriend (mother's orders) at all and it's nearly impossible for me to know if there will be marks on her from her mother when she is interviewed. Without evidence, it's unlikely that the people from children & youth services would be able to do anything for her.
Please....any advice, thoughts, and/or input would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you so much.
*for the record I am 18 and my girlfriend recently turned 17 (don't know if that's important or not)