Everyone is so good about sharing family problems here.I thought I would try to do so as well.

I have a sister in law who is abused by her husband. I know it is sexual and verbal as well and emotional and mental.
She is 44, with MS, and has had two children with him quickly, against her doctors advise. Her MS worsened because of this so she now has a one year old and a three year old.
She is the sole support of her family. Her retirement disability and her social security is what they live on. He refuses to work. Her leg and arm are going and she says she has to stop driving now. She is 44.
She is isolated in Virginia. She and he have a house in a small gated community in a small Virginia town. The community has it's own police force so when she, for example, cryed out to them that she was raped, they let it slide! They saw it as a "family problem," and did not bring in "real police," or the sheriff. She cannot get help there from family because they have all moved away.
Two years ago, my mother in law who lived there died in a head on collision. This left my sister in law alone in the small town with this situation. When my MIL died, the family came to the town for the service and called Child Protection for the children after seeing how they were treated and the danger they were in with only my SIL caring for them as her husband stays drunk and leaves all day. When CPS came they put her in some required counceling which is finished now and the children are in the same situation. They are yelled at when the two of them fight, they are driven when their father is drunk, and they get caught up in the fighting between their parents. They are in trouble.
Now, when we call CPS there is no way we can prove their is abuse because all we have is what she tells us and she DOES tell us what happens but they do not think it is enough to visit the home! It is as if he, her husband, is controlling her and her money and doing as he pleases with no one to stop him or check on his behavior.
Recently it got worse. My SIL found some porn, some YOUNG girls in photos in his truck and some web sites he was visiting. At the same time, his sisters wrote an open letter to the family about being abused by him, their brother, sexually, when they were young. Now there is a problem there. My sister in law called after finding him in bed naked with their three year old. He said he just fell asleep that way while caring for her.
We are at a loss. We don't think we can do anything else to help her.

Does anyone, (Dianne?) Have any ideas about this situation?

I thank you for reading and allowing me to put this somewhere in words. It is a big family problem that I landed in the middle of because the family wars but I am the one they all talk to when they fight.

dancer, frustrated.
I hope this made sense....