My girlfriend of about a month is sad a lot, and I'm positive it's about her life at home. Her dad treats her like shit. He's already told her that he thinks I'm "going too fast" by putting my arm around her... thank God he doesn't know what else we've done. A friend of hers told me that she went to drop something off at her house the other day and my girl was crying. She said she had some scratches on her arms, and when she asked what happened she said it was her dad. How he managed to scatch her I don't know, not do I know for sure that this is the case, but the fact that there's a possibility that he physically hurt her unnerves me. He's also a control freak. Her mom is extremely layed back, but her dad has to make all the decisions about when she's allowed to hang out with her friends/me. He's even grounded her for no reason, and when she asks when she's grounded he just yells at her about how she shouldn't talk back. There's more that he's done, but I think you get the basic idea... the guy's a control freak who overreacts to everything.
My question is is there anything that I can do to help her? I mean, I'm not going to call Child Protective Services or anything, I really don't think it's that severe and woiuld make things even more complicated than help the situation. It just pisses me off that he does these things and stresses my girlfriend out all the time. Right now I'm just convinced that it's one of those things you can't help, you just need to live with it... but it's hard to live with it when she's sad all the time about her life at home.

Slit his neck.

If it gets any worse like bruises then call Child Protection.

hes probably jealous of u.

you think her dad is bad?
=O
read my thread "i love you totse (relationship question inside)
maybe a page back though? idk. -.- lolz.

I can't really think of anything. My brother's friend(15) just got kicked out of his house by his abusice step-dad, and has been living with us for the past couple of weeks. He just left today to go live with his dad. There's not really much she can do, except leave. How old is she?

The abuse isn't THAT serious, just the way he treats her. She's always sad and it pises me off because I don't think he even realizes what he's doing to her.

One thing you really have to ask yourself is "have I actually seen her father do something abusive, or just maybe heard him yell one night." I'm not saying that child abuse isn't as big of an issue as it is, it's just i've ran into many of girls who claim that their dad is abusive, but it's really bullshit attention craving. How old is she, usually girls under 16-17 are prone to do make this shit up.

However if she really is being abused, and you feel that something needs to be done, and no one is willing to do something about it, then call DCYF. But that's if you feel serious matters need to be taken. Those motherfuckers look for parents that are abusive, and will take the kids in a second from what I've been told.

This is a slightly unreasonable reply OP, and you'll feel like I am playing the devil's advocate, but I know where I am coming from. The checklist that I would go through if I were you is:

1) Do I care enough to get seriously involved?

2) Do I have enough resources to completely take care of the girl, in the event that her dad really turns on her? This includes, providing her with a comparable lifestyle that she currently enjoys, if not better!

3) Does the girl have enough courage to move out of her home and join forces with you?

If you answered "yes" to all the three questions and assuming you both are over 18... then you should try to intervene and help her sort the problems. There is no need for the abuse to continue, if it is really happening.

Otherwise, all you will do is exacerbate the situation and make her dad more mad. Maybe he is the primary bread winner and if he gets into trouble for abusing his kid, then the entire family could end up worse off than they currently are.

The most prudent thing to do is; to provide her with the emotional support that she needs and distract her away from this apparent gloom. Befriending her father would also be a great idea. He might be a jerk, but if you give him the "perceived" respect that he craves, then he'll chill out and trust you with his daughter. Rather than become another entity that the dad has to worry about, join forces with him and convince him that you are actually aiding him in subjugating his daughter's behavior. Play both sides, until you are truly in a position to bail your flame out.