My friend is living with an abusive father and is terrified of what will happen next, what can she do?
I'm posting this on behalf of a close friend because she doesn't know what to do anymore and is scared that trying to get help will make things worse.
Her father has been abusive toward her, her siblings and her mother for a long time. He doesn't work and constantly screams at, taunts, insults, and threatens the family over very small things. There have also been incidents that were much worse than verbal abuse.
My friend received her A level results recently. She passed, but her grades were lower than she had expected. Her father had already been angry with her, and today he completely went haywire
He basically gave her four "options":
pay back all the "loss" he believes she caused over the last two years
repeat inter or a level with her own money, or have her mother pay for it
take a beating
give up her phone for a year or two
He also started saying that if anyone made even the slightest issue in the house, he will beat her up.
She said she spends a lot of time hiding in her room since she's afraid of being beaten; she's constantly walking on eggshells around him cause literally everything makes him angry.
The biggest problem is that she doesn't know what to do. She is afraid of calling the police because she still lives with him and believes that if he finds out she reported him, he could become even more violent. She also doesn't know if involving authorities would actually make her situation safer or potentially put her in more danger.
She has recently finished A-levels, so she's at a point where she needs to figure out university, work, finances, etc., but instead she's dealing with this at home and feels completely trapped.
Is there any one who could give practical advice on what to do in this situation? And please don't judge her for not being able to simply leave. She's financially dependent on her family and is genuinely scared of what could happen if her father realizes she's seeking help.