I don't know how she does it but she's broken 2 rear mechs in the last 6 months and both have failed the same way.
They still change gear fine but the cage doesn't move to take up the slack in the chain.
Is there anything she could be doing which causes this or is she just unlucky? Also any ideas on how to fix them as £50 for a new rear mech every 6 months is getting expensive!!
You let her have gears? It's a wonder the dear little thing knows how to operate them!
What gear choice does she make? Big + big may strain the mechanical and it will fail possibly. What mechanical is she breaking? Assume the spring has failed, can it be replaced?
Get her to buy the replacement!
How can I ask this...
When it doesn't move up, is it stiff, or is it floppy? 
If it's stiff it might be that the pivot that the bolt sits in is gummed up.. If it's floppy then either the spring's broken (which is unlikely), or it's been forced back past the stop, and broken the stop.
The pivot at the top of the cage is very stiff so the cage doesn't move back when moving to a higher gear. I've got it soaking in diesel at the mo to try and ungum it.
She is probably more used to rapid rise at the rear
(I'm sorry 
)
My wife has mangled two rear mechs / hangers (one was an old-skool attached to the frame job) / sets of spokes by setting off in a massive gear and mashing the cranks with her whole weight on each pedal in turn.
The last one was particularly annoying as she did it miles from the nearest town on a tour of Southern Ireland, in the pissing rain. She got a Polish tourist bus 22 miles back to the nearest civilisation, during which time she got hammered on strange Polish spirits whilst I cycled back the way I'd just come.
I then had to sit on the pavement outside the blacksmiths, in a puddle, trying to hammer the whole mess back into shape.
You can take the c-clip off the bolt and take it apart to clean it. If you stuff it full of thick grease and get the rust off the bolt/pivot it should stay good for longer.. Hold a rag over it as you un-clip it, as it'll fly apart into little bits.
It's a bit of a 3 handed job to put it back together though, as you've got to tension the spring past the stop while pushing it all back together.. Bit of a screwdriver through the palm job!
It might be a pressure-washer induced failure..?
Sounds like a job for an Alfine 
Did she bend it? Women can be a bit rough sometimes.
I mean by hitting against rocks like.
Sounds like it's her way of telling you she wants to go singlespeed!
does she commute on it? - that evil black tarry roadshite would do exactly that to a mech, I bet
Hub gears ??
Does diesel clean stuff? Petrol's a better bet.
My wife has been a lot less harsh on her gears since I switched her bike to twisty shifting. She seems to be able choose an appropriate gear a lot more easily now.
Thanks for your helpful comments. Will try dismantling the mech and see if filling it with grease gets it moving again. Don't think she'll go for the single speed idea but will see what she thinks of twisty shifters.
Still no idea about the cause as its probably done less than 50 miles on road so don't think tar could be gumming it up. Would be surprised if its pressure washer related as its only been through a trail centre bike wash about 3 times in 18 months - rest of the time it gets sponged down with car shampoo. Will check it for strightness to see if she's bashed it on a rock somewhere - she does quite like clobbering rocks!!
Cheers
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