What can I do about my abusive sister?
I am 17 and my sister is 14. Two years ago me and my family emergrated from the UK to Australia. Ever since the move, my sister has become very angry. For example, she screams and shouts, swears at me and my parents, destroys things and has also chased me around the house with a meat knife and cornered my parents with knives.
She used to get bullied at school when we first moved over here, and I as her older sister looked after her and stood up to any bullies. But she was very unhappy. We lived in a very rural area, 18km out of town and my dad's family (part of the reason why we emergrated) did not have a care for myself, sister or mother; they we only interested in seeing their 'long lost' brother. My dad after 2 months of us living in Australia, needed to start interstate truck driving for work, leaving me, mum and my sister alone for 4-5 days a week. After 5 months my mothers business had not been successful and with a lot of arguments my mum purswaded my dad that we should move to the GoldCoast.
We moved and my sister made lots of new friends, she seemed happy. Mum got a job in Brisbane, but unfortunatelty my dad still had to interstate truck drive for work. It was really then that my sister would come home and not do chores, start to shout at me for no apparent reason and started swearing, a lot. Mum would come home, tired from a 11 hour day, to an argument which my sister would commence. Leonie (sister) was never happy, ever. Nothing was ever good enough. She said my mum betrayed her by bringing the family over here, but she never even gave the family a chance for us to settle and make things work.
On weekends; dad comes home from five days driving to arguments between my mum and sister or myself and my sister. She tells me I've failed as a sister because I have not protected her? The arguemnts are not just a 10 minute argument. I am talking 1-4 hours of screaming, swearing and cursing; the neighbours once commented to me (not knowing I was their neigbour) how much they heard my sister and how discrasful it was. When you tell Leonie to keep her tone down, she gets louder and swears more. She then started smashing glasses, plates, pots, anything! She told my parents numerous times she would rather be in care than with us! This girl has everything! An Iphone, Laptop, Internet, Ipod, money, and most importantly a loving and supportive family.
About a year ago was the first time Leonie pulled a knife. It was just me and her home alone, and we had an argument. I told her if she didn't stop swearing at me, I would smack her in the mouth so she couldn't swear no more. She then grabbed the meat knife, and chased me into my bedroom, where I slammed the door, terrified for my life! The second time she pulled it on my mum, to which my dad grabbed her wrist and prised the knife out of her hand, it left a bruise on his thumb how hard he was pushing on her wrist as she would not let go. The third time; dad was in her room. He had bought her a new desk and was assembelling it. Leonie decided she didn't want him in her room, even though he was nearly finished and had spent an hour already putting it all together. She started screaming 'Get the f*** out of my room!' after twenty minutes of ignoring her and simply saying calmly the first time 'No I am nearly finished, please wait half an hour.' my dad got up, took leonie by the arm and walked her out the room. To which she then said 'Right'. She stormed into the kitchen and pulled out a bread knife; to this I screamed 'Dad, she had a knife! Run!'. She then cornered my dad and said 'Now you B******, get the f*** out of my room!' My dad saw red and admittedly he charged at her and my mum grabbed the knife off leonie, then my dad smacked her repeatly on her shoulders, with open fists. After 10 thumps she slumped to the floor and my dad went out to the garden in tears. Mum chucked her out of the house for the day and cried.
A week after, my sister went to her counselor and told her my parents beat her all the time and they called her names etc. It is not true! I live under the same roof and if anything it is my parents who are the victims! The counselor then told my mother 'I am sending Leonie to a 'Safe House.' She is obviously not safe in the family home. I hope realise Mrs Watts, swearing even if not directly at Leonie, comes under the umbrella of domestic violence!'
With that Leonie was taken to the 'Safe House'. It was more like a holiday for my sister! My parents were distraught! The counselor basically called them bad parents! And why is my dad a bad parent?? Because he defended himself and me/mum from a blade leonie threatened us with?!
When leonie came back home two weeks later, my parents stopped the counselor as she was making things worse, not better!
Leonie now is an aggressive person and lashes out at me when we argue. Not with a blade, but with her fists. She is 110kg and 6'1 foot. I've had bruises from her punches and she had even hit me with a dirty wooden spoon and sauce pan in a fiery argument.
A lot of Leonies anger is aimed at my mum though. It is a daily occurrence for leonie to come out of her room and abuse my mum. She says tings like 'Your a bad mother, I nhate you! F*** off!'
Leonie twists arguments. For example.
Leonie gets paid once a week for doing simple chores. The agreement was, leonie would get paid after the chores were done. But because my mum didn't speciffically say 'I will pay you within 1-2 days of you completing your chores.' Leonie then in a angrument said 'I have done my chores 20 minutes ago! So where is my f***ing money?? '
Yet Leonie knew full well she would get her money on the weekend if her chores were completed on Friday. She is an intelligent girl but uses lack of common sense in her arguments and exclaims 'Well where's my f***ing crystal ball?! '
Now after two years of daily arguments, numerous counselors inclusing family counselors, school involvement, youth programmes and family discussions including leonie; I am at my witts end! I am just out of it all! But I really do fear when she argues with my mum for our safety. She is so unpredictable! Like I said my dad is away 5 days a week, so there is no strong man to protect my mum or myself. It's really scary and we are constantly walking on egg shells!
I am not a perfect child, far from it. I have my arguments with Leonie, mum and dad all separately. But I have never ever ever sworn at my parents or been aggessive towards them! I literally would not dare because if Leonie had of been me and done what she's done, I would have hit the deck numerous times! I have my own problems with school, but the whole family is so engulfed with Leonie I don't feel I can share or add more problems to the family.
I feel so scared for our safety, but mostly my mums!
I hate thinking how my mums feels, because I can't image how hurt she is emotionally from Leonie. My mum admittedly had thought of suicide about a year ago, but has not mentioned it since.
What can I do?!
Any advice is welcome. Please excuse my bad spelling and grammar. Hopefully it is clear enough for you to read.
