Men and women who trap their partners in a cycle of emotional cruelty would be prosecuted and jailed under tough new laws proposed by ministers.I am sure feminists see this as progress, but I am not sure they have thought it thru. This makes nagging a crime, and wives nag their husbands a lot more than husbands nag their wives. Also, I suspect that wives are more guilty of trying to isolate from friends and family.
In a dramatic shake-up, Home Secretary Theresa May today launched a consultation on creating a specific criminal offence of domestic abuse.
Police and prosecutors would be expected to take action against those who trap their partners in a ‘living hell’ through a campaign of psychological and financial control.
People who bully their partners by verbally abusing them, controlling their money or isolating them from friends and family could find themselves hauled before the courts.
At the moment, domestic abuse is widely taken to refer to acts of physical violence, and usually prosecuted under charges including assault, battery and actual bodily harm.
Controlling, threatening and intimidating behaviour can be covered by stalking and harassment legislation, but this is difficult to prosecute when it applies to intimate relationships, such as a husband and wife who live together.
Mrs May believes it does not properly protect victims who suffer ‘terrible’ non-violent harm, including coercive, threatening or intimidating behaviour, often for years, at the hands of so-called loved ones.
Research has shown that 30 per cent – or 5million – women and 16 per cent of men, around 2.5million, will experience domestic abuse during their lives.
Campaigners who work to tackle domestic abuse welcomed the proposals, which would carry a maximum prison sentence of five years.
More women are also guilty of rape, if the definition is expanded:
When Lara Stemple, a researcher at UCLA looked at the latest National Crime Victimization Survey, she was shocked to see that men experienced rape and sexual assault almost as frequently as women, and that women were often the perpetrators. Once the definition of rape was expanded to include more than just penetration, it became clear that men and women were equally likely to be raped, and more importantly, equally likely to be rapists. Researchers from the University of Missouri got the same results, finding that “43% of high school boys and young college men reported they had an unwanted sexual experience and of those, 95% said a female acquaintance was the aggressor.”
2 comments:
My thoughts exactly. When I heard they were making "emotional abuse" a crime, my first thought was, holy shit, WAAAY more women than men are emotionally abusive. Emotional abuse and controlling behavior are a female specialty.
I have the feeling that the law would only enforce unilaterally.
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