ok, kind of a dumb but important question

Drop The Leash 10

is emotional abuse illegal?

mickeyrat

suppose it depends on who is doing the abusing? If it is a parent/guardian , then it might be enough to have the minor removed from the home. As far as criminal? Not sure.

arq

IT IS, of course there's so many shades of gray on that topic but it is illegal. I've seen many restriction orders just for that kind of abuse.

soulsinging

I think it would be damned difficult to prove, but you can sue somebody for "intentional infliction of emotional distress." If you're talking in a family situation... things are going to have to be very very VERY bad to justify, for instance, pulling a kid out of a home. And I really cannot see anyone ever being taken to jail for it like they would if police arrive and someone's getting hit.

Basically, it depends on the context... who's involved and what you want to do about it. But flat out illegal... free speech tends to pretty strongly outweigh any sort of restriction on words, even if they're emotionally abusive.

Of course, there's also the recourse someone mentioned above... a restraining order of some sort based on harassment. But that's a slightly different fish from straight up abuse.

alexander supertramp

abuse does not have to be physical. it also involves ongoing emotional abuse in the forms of either verbal or withholding love and basic care ... all of which leaves marks just as deep and painful as being hit.

In australia at least, i know of cases where parents have been reported for the emotional abuse and lack of care to their children. but as other australian members might also know, reporting might lead to investigation, but not always to action based on that. and sadly, this is mostly to the detriment of said children

ive also had friends find themselves in the same position. in those cases all you can really offer is support. its up to a grown person to remove themselves from that situation. If the abuse becomes physical, then it is assault, which is a chargeable offense - but as any one who has walked that road might realise, leaving when you have no self esteem or confidence is a hell of a lot easier said than done.

pretext

Alexander Supertramp wrote:

but as other australian members might also know, reporting might lead to investigation, but not always to action based on that.

it's the same in the U.S. your local, governmental children's service agency can take a report, decide whether to investigate or not based on the content of the initial report, and then take action or not based upon the results of the investigation. Despite the long-lasting damage, for sure, it's much harder to get a result than physical/sexual abuse - and just think about how under-reported that is.

PearlOfAGirl

Yes it definitely is!!! :( It's almost as bad, if not worse then physical abuse!!!

dunkman

Drop The Leash 10 wrote:

is emotional abuse illegal?

define 'emotional abuse'?