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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To know what to do?

77 replies

J0die · 28/02/2014 16:43

Hello. I have read this forum for some time and now at my wits end i have finally taken the plunge to join and i hope, get some advice from other Mums here.
To give a brief detail of my situation, i have been married for 9 years and i have 3 children under the age of 7. The youngest is a few months old and has slight learning difficulties, so he does not sleep for long and screams a lot when he is awake.
Things have now reached a crisis point with my DH as he is completely unsupportive.
I feel tired and completely wrung out all the time. However my DH demands that our home is clean, a meal is cooked and the children are asleep in their beds when he arrives home from work at 7.pm.
If anything is not done ready, he goes absolutely mad. He does not hit me but he has pushed me sometimes. It is more verbal abuse. He calls me fat, lazy and says that i look a mess.
He refuses point blank to look after the children for me, even so i can do the quickest of tasks. His actual words are ' You wanted fucking kids, you look after them' ( Please excuse the language )
He has not been interested in sex since i had our last child. When i asked him if there was someone else he replied ' I would rather have a wank than fuck you, you fat bitch' I found this extremely distressing and burst into tears. His reaction was to further verbally abuse me.
He goes online on his Ipad when he goes to bed and views porn while mastrubating, even with me laid in bed beside him. Last night, he pointed to one of the women on a porn film and said that if i looked like her, he would rape me every night. I went to the bathroom and cried.
He takes care of all the finances, even down to doing the shopping online. All the money goes into his bank account, his wages and my family allowance as i dont have a bank account and from this he gives me 25pounds a week as he says i dont need anything else as he pays for everything. From this i buy my sanitary wear and clothes.
I want to leave, but i have nowhere to go and no money. When i threaten to leave, he just says ' There's the door'.
I can't kick him out because the house that we live in belongs to his mother and he pays a small rent directly to her from his bank account.
He has also told me that if i leave, he will take the kids to Yemen and i will never see them again. This makes me very afraid as i know that if he does this, the Yemeni courts always side with the Father with custody, the mother has no rights at all. Even though he was born in England, his Parents are Yemeni and he has a Yemen passport. He also has the childrens passports locked away.
I can't work as i have nobody to care for my children while i am at work even if i did get a job.
I feel like i am going to have a breakdown. I go to bed and cry myself to sleep most nights, what can i do?
Please help.

OP posts:
Pipbin · 28/02/2014 17:35

Could you go to the local police station while he's at work and ask for help?
You say that he has done nothing to warrent police involvement but they still might help.

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 28/02/2014 17:41

he is a very good Husband apart from the verbal abuse and not helping with the kids

Read what you wrote. He is not a good husband. He is abusive financially, emotionally, sexually and physically. There is no apart from in a relationship.

You can get out. You need to get out, for yours and your children's sake.

Weathergames · 28/02/2014 17:43

Or go to Social Care - they will help you.

J0die · 28/02/2014 17:47

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

bluntasabullet · 28/02/2014 17:49

Do you have any friends who could help out? Where about's in the country are you roughly if you can say?

pluCaChange · 28/02/2014 17:52

Women's Aid/Refuge:0808200024708082000247

Also, I know your children are young, but if you fear they may be taken away, and if you fear forced marriage may at any point be a possibility, for girls or boys (after all, they presumably have UK passports), you can contact the Forced Marriage Unit (a joint unit of the Home Office and Foreign Office):

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7008 0151 Email:[email protected] Email for outreach work:[email protected]

The forced marriage unit makes a specific point of the fact that people with learning difficulties may be vulnerable to pressure, so I hope you will find that your personal vircumstances ring more than a few of their bells.

bluntasabullet · 28/02/2014 17:52

And most importantly, do you want to leave him? We can all tell you to leave. But can only really help if we know what you want to do about your situation.

Your married life is in no way normal. Please don't let him make you think it is.

fideline · 28/02/2014 17:59

Reunite are an international child abduction charity. They have an advice line.

bluntasabullet · 28/02/2014 17:59

0808 2000 247

That's the phone number for Refuge, they will help you even if the domestic abuse isn't physical (although pushing IS physical)

Pipbin · 28/02/2014 18:00

Another option is to talk to one of your children's teachers. I've had similar happen to me before. They might be able to contact social services because of the children's welfare.

I've also known of situations before where we have kept children in school only to be released to the mother and the police have been there in case the father turns up.

Pheonixisrising · 28/02/2014 18:13

I can't add to the wonderful advice you have already been given , I hope everything works out for you my friend

J0die · 28/02/2014 18:17

If i leave, i have nowhere to go. If i call social services then he will know that something is the matter and in all probability would leave with the kids there and then. One of the things that i have learned is that as we are not divorced and he is the childrens father, he has a right to remove them from the country with or without my permission, despite my fears that they will be removed permanently.
This is my catch 22. If i apply for a divorce, he will take the children before the petition has even hit the doormat. If i dont apply for a divorce, the same scenario.
We are due to fly to Yemen to visit his parents in the easter holidays and i am dreading it. I can't tell him that i am not going because he will just go with the children anyway. If i say he can't take the children, he will take them anyway as i have no legal right in that dept.
If i tell the authorities thatz i fear he is going to snatch them, i have no proof to back up those fears, particularly as he has taken them alone before and has always returned. Without proof, i have no case. He knows this too.
Just the same as if i wanted to leave the country with them, he would have no legal grounds to stop me.
Whatever i do, i stand to lose my children.
I can't open a bank account because they require 2 utility bills and the utility bills are in his name, he pays them by direct debit so he gets a statement, which is in his name.
I dont need much money as i dont drink or smoke and he pays all the householls bills and food etc.
It is just his attitude that is getting me to the point where i feel suicidal, but for my children.

OP posts:
Cleartheclutter · 28/02/2014 18:19

Is he Muslim? Can you go to the mosque and ask to speak to someone about his behaviour?

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 28/02/2014 18:25

Op you need a plan in place with organisations that can help you to get you and your dc to a safe place when he's out.

WaitMonkey · 28/02/2014 18:25

I've no advice, I'm afraid but wanted to wish you luck. I also hope you're being careful with security when MNing, so he can't trace your thread. x

Gimmesomemore · 28/02/2014 18:37

What do you want to happen in an ideal world? (ie without this prick.)

With the right support and careful planning you can escape this atrocious man. Please believe this.

bluntasabullet · 28/02/2014 18:38

Start by phoning Refuge, and asking their advice. It is totally confidential.

PainCalledPMT · 28/02/2014 18:38

Really feel for you babe. Sending hugs your way. xxx

Could you not take your children and run away when DH is at work? Perhaps you have a relative or friend you could stay with?

Coconutty · 28/02/2014 18:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WestieMamma · 28/02/2014 18:42

OP who has told you that you have no legal powers to stop him taking the children abroad? Him? You do have powers. It is a criminal offence for him to take them without your consent. You can also contact the passports/border agency to have their passports flagged as a warning to the port/airport to check that you have consented.

fideline · 28/02/2014 18:43

Not really helpful Coconutty

SylvanMuldoon · 28/02/2014 18:43

Please ring Women's Aid again. Tell them everything, how scared you are and his threats to remove your children. You need to get out to a refuge. You DONT have to be being beaten up for this, emotional abuse is considered by WA to be just as damaging and it sounds like the person you spoke to was totally wrong, for whatever reason. Please try again. A refuge is your way out of this, you've done the right thing by reaching out here. Keep reaching out for help. You need to get away, as quickly as you feel able. You could also just pack bags for you and the kids when he is out of the way and go to your local police station and ask to be referred to their domestic abuse unit or they will contact WA on your behalf. You don't have to live like this. Please be very careful and make sure you wipe your internet history and give him NO indication of your plans. Gather what important paperwork you can together and just leave.

fideline · 28/02/2014 18:44

Just to clarify, J0die Are you in the UK?

Nicola19 · 28/02/2014 18:44

So sorry that you are in this awful situation. I understand what you think your rights are or aren't, but i think only a lawyer specialising in these sort of things could really tell you what rights you have as the mother of your children in the UK. Perhaps you should contact a family lawyer. How to pay for this, perhaps legal aid? Good luck OP.

Gimmesomemore · 28/02/2014 18:45

Forgot to add, why don't you confide in your Health Visitor? Since you have young children it wouldn't cause any suspicion, if you say it's for a check for the baby.

They'd be able to offer you another branch of support and it will give you somebody who can back you up.