I'm 16 and I need to get away from my parents.

[Guest]

I've lived with my dad for the past two years now and I rarely see my mom (which I'm okay with). My dad has always been verbally abusive towards me which in no circumstance is okay. My mom has also been verbally abusive towards me and her boyfriend has also been physically abusive.

My main question here is, is there any legal way to stay at a friends house for a little bit just to calm myself and escape the pain that my parents cause me.

If this helps, I live in Indiana.

[ccsmod1]

Hey there,

Thanks so much for contacting us, it takes a lot of courage to reach out and share your story. It must be really hard to live in a home with so much tension. You are exactly right - you don't deserve to be abused in any way. Running away is a big decision and it can be very stressful to figure out what you want to do.

We aren’t legal experts here at NRS, but generally speaking, if you do opt to leave your home your dad can file a runaway report, which is essentially a missing person report. Running away is a status offense; this means that it isn’t illegal, but it’s something you can’t do while still a minor. If a runaway report is filed and you are located by the authorities you will most likely be returned to your dad.

If you’d like to go over what’s going on in depth, or if you’d like to explore other options that you may have available to you, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY. You can also chat us by clicking on the “CHAT” button on top of our homepage. We’re open 24/7 and here to listen and support you in any way we can.

Stay safe,
NRS