This is kind of an AIBU but also a 'oh my god, what can I actually do here?'
My little sister turned 16 in August and since then my mother (who I am low contact with) has been leaving her for days at a time to look after herself, often with no food, money or emergency contact. Often if this happens my little sister lets me know because I'm only a mile away and let her stay. My DSis says that my mother has basically ignored her since she turned 16 and regularly tells her that she can look after herself- she clearly can't, she's very much a child and quite young for her age and also has no income.
The worst was when my mother left my DSis for three weeks to go to France two weeks after the new school term had started in September, at the start of my DSis' possibly most important school year. There was no emergency contact left, my mother had no signal (or had phone off) for the majority of the time and left £20. Luckily DSis told me and stayed here for I think about 2.5 weeks. When DSis got here, she was covered in flea bites from the dogs (which had also went on holiday) and when I went to the house with her to pick up some more things the house was an unhygienic tip- I hadn't been there since I left at aged 16 and even judging by my mother's standards I was shocked.
I'm posting today because my DSis has just informed me that my mother left her for three days with no food in the fridge, no money and one of the dogs. My mother got back last week and DSis asked if she would buy her food and my mother screamed at her and told her to be self sufficient and make/buy something herself. I'm sick and tired of watching my DSis get hurt like this and it's getting worse as the months go by.
Realistically, what can I do here? DSis needs emotional support and love and care, she is in her most important exam year and is also still a child! But my mother isn't giving her that anymore. I've said DSis can move here but she's not ready to leave yet. DSis counts as an adult, I think (we're in Scotland) so I don't know if phoning any of the helplines would be a good idea or not. I feel helpless and angry at myself for not looking after her better. Any suggestions welcome.
(It's probably important to mention, so that I don't dripfeed later on, that I left the minute I turned 16 because she physically and emotionally abused me and stopped feeding me when I was 12. However my DSis was the 'favourite' so to speak and other than watching abuse happen, had never been directly involved- I actually partially left so that she didn't have to see it anymore.)