Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group
Abuse is a general term for the treatment of someone that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) that is unlawful or wrongful. No one deserves abuse, period. Abuse can be emotional, physical, or sexual.
Would you call the police to document emotional abuse (screaming, blaming type meltdown by a parent) of a child?
The abuser has a history of physical and emotional abuse, and does not live with the kids any longer. He is, however, seeking to remove a restraining order and increase his visitation time with them. The altercation happened over a phone call and left the children crying and upset.
If it was an average, non-abusive family and a one-off where a parent just lost their temper, I would shrug it off and hope they did better next time. But given the history I wonder if it is better to document it.
I would prefer to report it to a social worker but we don't currently have an active file with child protection.
The abuser has a history of physical and emotional abuse, and does not live with the kids any longer. He is, however, seeking to remove a restraining order and increase his visitation time with them. The altercation happened over a phone call and left the children crying and upset.
If it was an average, non-abusive family and a one-off where a parent just lost their temper, I would shrug it off and hope they did better next time. But given the history I wonder if it is better to document it.
I would prefer to report it to a social worker but we don't currently have an active file with child protection.
Why not start there and try to open a file?
It's significant that there's already
a restrainning order.
I'd call social services first and
see if they'll document what you
have to share.
The police could be a harder sell
but if social services doesn't listen,
then I'd try to at least document
what you know, with the police.
If neither of these agencies
want to make a record, then
I'd go to your local coalition
against domestic violence.
It's such a fine line between wanting to make sure everything is documented, and overreacting. It's dangerous to fall to either side. I'm not far enough away from it yet to have a good handle on which way to lean. Your experience is valuable to me!