I have recently come to learn from my daughter that she is still being physically and mentally abused by my ex-wife and family, although I have always suspected.
2 years ago I tried to put a stop to this and spent 9 months going through care proceedings with a reasonable amount of physical evidence. Unfortunately the case collapsed due to many reasons but the outcome should have been enough to stop the abuse.
My dilemma is that I know how much extra mental abuse my daughter was subjected to last time and she has been threatened with 'Mummy will go to jail if you don't conform'. She isn't badly behaved with me but I am aware that she plays up with her mother.
Last time I had good evidence and the case failed, This time I have nothing apart from my daughters word, yet she has been silenced. I unfortunately have no faith in the services as they have already failed her.
How do I best support her apart from a safe family home when she visits?
It might be worth contacting NSPCC - it's been a long time since I've had dealings with them, but I think they do an advice service to help with this sort of scenario.
Is so upsetting when we feel we can't fully protect our children, when the services that are designed to protect them, have failed them.
Could you speak to her school about what she has told you? Does she ever have any marks of the physical abuse she is suffering? If there are bruises or other marks you could take her to A&E and ask them to look at her injuries... they are duty bound to involve the child protection team if they suspect there is abuse.
In not sure how old your child is, but as she gets older, she will be listened to more. I'm sure you are giving her as much love and reassurance as you can when she's with you., don't give up, keep speaking up for her and hopefully at some point, you will both be heard.
All the best