17 from OK trying to go to Texas.

[Guest]

I am currently 17 years old, 18 in 6 months, and I live in Oklahoma. The law here says that I can leave home at 17 and I can’t be forced to go back home. I want to move to Texas with a friend. I have all the money I need to get there, I have a place to live and a job lined up. The law in Texas is different than Oklahoma, you can’t legally leave home until you’re 18 and they can force you to go home. I want to leave home because of my parents. My dad raped me at a young age and he is mentally and physically abusive. My mom watches him abuse me and never says a word but she doesn’t know he raped me. I already graduated high school so that’s not a problem. I just want to know if the person I would be living with would be in trouble or if I would be forced to return home.

[ccsmod3]

Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out to National Runaway Safeline. Here at NRS we aren’t legal experts but have some general information about runaway laws. In some cases we have heard that the laws will be applied towards a youth from the state they are from. If you want to look into more laws state by state you can look at lawhelp.org or call into your local non-emergency line and ask them directly how they might respond.
We are sorry you are experiencing abuse, no one ever deserves to go through that. You do have the right to report the abuse to Child Help at 1-800-422-4453. You can either do it yourself or call into us directly and we can support you through it. It is hard to say the result of reporting, but if you call in you can ask what the process might look like. If you also are wanting support with talking through it, you can reach out to RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network) 1-800-656-4673 as they have lots of resources and trained counselors to talk to.
We are here for you and will support you in anyway that we can. Please feel free to call into us directly as we can talk further about your situation and find resources that are best for you in your area. Stay strong and you are not alone in this! Our hotline ( 1-800-RUNAWAY) and chat are open 24/7.
-NRS