Q: Hello, my father verbally abuses my mom and I recently walked in on him hitting her. What will police do if I call?
I am 18 years of age, and I am worried that if I call the police my mother will not press charges out of fear. She is also afraid of change which is why she does not divorce him. When they fight, he holds her and screams in her face, calls her disgusting names, and I now know that he hits her. Please tell me what I can do to prevent and stop such violence? I am worried that the police will let him return to home.
A: If you call the police and tell them you witnessed your father hit your mother, they will arrest him and he will be charged whether she wants that to happen or not. Domestic violence is a hot button issue right now and it is becoming more and more apparent that many women are lying when they claim it didn't happen. With several high profile deaths in the last few years, where women had sought to have charges dropped successfully, the courts are less and less inclined to permit the victim to decide whether the case moves forward. There is also the civil route, you and your mother could seek a protection order rather than reporting the matter to police.
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