Real Life Answers
A friend at school is being abused by her father.
I have a student who is in college (freshmen) and she has a friend at school that she met this year who is being abused by her father. The RA knows, but she is not doing anything. My question is... I am encouraging her to report it to the authorities but she is scared that her friend will suffer from the decision at the hand of her father. I want to know if my advice to her is good or not. Any advice? Thanks for your ministry!
What a tough situation. The most unforntunate part is that you're not alone. There are many people who are stuck in the middle of a similar circumstance.
I think you're heading in the right direction. The law states that you have 36 hours from the inception of the knowledge that something could possibly be happening to report it. The authorities need to be involved, by law... but also for her own good. Someone needs to make the step of calling Child Protective Services and let them know what is going on. If not, the abuse will continue. It needs to be stopped and the only way is to bring in outside help. That is what the "law for reporting" is there for.
Your student needs to know that her friends life and health need to come first, even before their friendship. If she allows her friend to stay in that situation, it will only continue. She needs to see the end result of reporting, not just the "could happens".
Keep encouraging her to report, or do it yourself. Either way, someone needs to be sure to get this secret out in the open so her friend, and her father can get help.
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