Friend being abused
14 year old female
It was only at the end of last year when I noticed that one of my friends started acting strangely. She wasn't talking much or eating and every time I asked her what she has been doing on the weekend all she said was that she spent it laying in bed listening to music.
After a few weeks I started really worrying about her so I confronted her. She told me that she found life at home hard. She was always looking after her younger siblings while her mum and step dad were at work and whenever her step dad was home she was being sexually abused by him.
At first I didn't know what to do. I tried to encourage her to tell someone like the school counsellor or just the teacher, but she always said she couldn't. After finding out about what happened she stopped smiling. She was never happy. She was always telling me what was wrong and it started making me depressed.
All the pressure of trying to make her happy and comfortable was really hard on me and that was on top of my own problems. I still don't know if she has called Kids Helpline after me suggesting it to her, but I know that after I did I felt 100 times better.
I now can help her out a little more too. They have given me advice on how I can help her and help myself. If it wasn't for Kids Helpline I don't think I would of been able to support her anymore.
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