17 Abusive Parents Runaway

[Guest]

My girlfriend is being abusived by her parents. They are always calling her a slut and making her cry and have depression. She is an amazing person but they don’t seem to see it. I want to get her out of the house for the weekend and her come stay with me 18 Logan UT then her go back Sunday. Just can she do that or would I get in trouble?

[ccsmod5]

Hey,
Thank you so much for writing in. It sounds like your girlfriend is in a really tough position and she’s lucky to have someone like you in her corner to let her know how amazing she is. It sounds like your girlfriend has a support in you, and if she isn’t already she might find it helpful to talk to a therapist or a guidance counselor about what she’s been going through. Depending on the situation, she may also be able to file an abuse report. For more information about that process and what the outcome might be, she can call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
Regarding your question about having her come stay with you for the weekend: generally speaking, you need to be 18 to leave without permission. So if your girlfriend is under 18, she would need to ask her parents for permission to go to Utah. If she leaves without permission, her parents would have the right to file a runaway report. That being said, it is not illegal to run away. It is considered a status offense, meaning that it’s something she can’t do because of her age. There wouldn’t really be any legal consequences if she left without permission. If the police are able to locate her, they would simply return her back home. Since you are 18, you MAY be charged with harboring a runaway, but her parents would have to decide to press those charges against you, which can be expensive and time-consuming. It's sort of a rare charge. We are a non-directive organization, meaning that we won’t tell you what to do, so we hope that this information is useful in helping you and your girlfriend make a decision on this matter. If you wanna talk more specifically about the situation, feel free to call us at 1-800-786-2929. Best of luck!