• Neurobomber
    +4

    Although I think stricter laws on domestic abuse should be created, making "emotional abuse" illegal seems like a very easy way to manipulate the system. If the laws are badly defined or the proof of evidence isn't explicitly defined, I could see this easily being manipulated by both spurned spouses and corrupt cops.

    This would scare the shit out of me if it passed in the States. It's pretty easy to imagine cops breaking in to homes without a warrant because they heard an argument in the house because it could be "emotional abuse" and raiding the home for drugs or other contraband.

    The best method to preventing emotional abuse is through education. Most people don't understand the various methods of manipulation that someone might pull to put them in an abusive relationship, especially when they're young and naive.

    But hey, education is hard. Enacting a vague law that sounds good to voters is easy.

    • Qukatt
      +1

      similarly i don't think many emotional manipulators really realise what they are doing. My ex was emotionally abusive, attempted gaslighting and other stuff and I thought he was just really super clingy and needy. It wasn't till i got out the relationship and finding all these relationship behaviours i had were not at all normal that i realised something was up and it wasn't until i started reading stories from other manipulated men and women that i found a hell of a lot of parallels.

      At the same time I don't think he really knew how much damage his pattern of behaviour was doing either. He was variously needy/clingy/afraid of not being loved or something that he resorted to whatever worked and stumbled upon these methods (at least i hope it wasn't calculated). I Hope that had he known how to have a healthy relationship and what that looked like he wouldn't have fallen into these lazy methods of getting his way.

      He was one of those whiney self proclaimed "nice guy"s and I wish I had known that means run a mile and then run a couple hundred more.