finding help for a friend in a mentally abusive relationship

I need to find some help for my friend, although i don't really know what to do. I need to show her how seriously abusive her relationship is. there have always been some weird things about the two of them together, but I never knew how serious it was until a few days ago she came over crying with bruises on her face.

she's 18 years old and has been dating this guy since she was 13 and he's the only guy she's ever dated. they've talked about getting married and right now they're living together in a trailer she's invested a lot of time and money in. this guy is EXTREMELY jealous, to the point of being completely ridiculous. he thinks she likes my fiancee and her little brother's way younger friend and even just the MENTION of one of their names by ANYONE around her and he will give her shit about how she probably got excited when that persons name came up. my fiancee's name is Axyn and anytime she says even just words that sound similar, he gives her shit about it. like she'll say the word "relaxin" and he'll be like "what are you thinking about him for?" he gives her shit about the way she walks, telling her she's trying to get other guys to notice her. he calls her ugly, even though she's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen!:


A few nights ago they were fighting and she wanted to leave, but he grabbed her and held her there and wouldn't let her go and wouldn't give her her keys and it turned into a massive fight, both of them hitting each other and she came over saying she'd never go back to him, but he came over looking for her, just barged in my back door without knocking or anything, and convinced her to go "have a talk" with him. she said she'd be right back and that she would sleep at my house, but of course, she didn't come back so I went to their trailer and sure enough, there they were. so I begged her to just come stay the night with me and she wouldn't do it, said they were going to try to fix things and that she thought she should stay the night there. then the next day at work she called and felt sorry for coming over to my house at all! she just kind of blew it off like it what happened wasn't all that bad and she felt sorry for embarrassing her boyfriend!

so I know there's something really messed up in the relationship and I need some kind of printed information telling her what abusive relationships are. I can tell her all I want, but if she saw something on paper I think she would take it more seriously. I've been in abusive relationships, myself, and seeing printed information just made me realize how badly I needed to get out of there. does that sound silly? anyways, I need help one way or the other. I'm the only friend she has and I feel like I'm her only hope.

 

http://www.snbw.org/


they have a 24-hour toll-free crisis line, an emergency shelter, counseling, information and referrals, support groups, safety planning, legal services and community education presentations at this site.

there's probably a shelter somewhere close to where ever you are, if you would prefer something close to home.