Chandigarh, Nov 22: Societies have long understood physical assault. The bruises, fractures, and wounds are visible. The injuries are documented. The consequences are undeniable. Yet there is a quieter form of violence that continues unchecked, unpunished, even unnamed in many legal systems: emotional abuse.
It is time to say, without hesitation, that emotional abuse is not simply “hurt feelings,” nor a private matter between two people. It is deliberate psychological harm. It is a systematic erosion of dignity, identity, and self-worth. And in its long-term impact, its scars can be as deep—and often deeper—than physical assault.
For far too long, emotional abuse has survived under the cover of invisibility. There are no cracked ribs. No hospital photos. No police testimony. Instead, there are psychological ruins that accumulate slowly: anxiety, trauma, depression, panic, fear. These are injuries no less real, no less crippling, no less life-altering.
The result, in essence, is the same.
Our laws, however, do not reflect this truth.
Physical assault is recognized, prosecuted, and punished. But emotional abuse—which can destroy confidence, paralyze the will, isolate victims from family, and permanently alter mental health—is dismissed as a “relationship problem,” a “misunderstanding,” or “just words.”
This legal blindness has a cost.
It leaves victims unprotected.
It emboldens abusers.
It trivializes trauma.
And it reinforces a dangerous belief: that only visible wounds deserve justice.
But emotional abuse is violence.
And it deserves the force of law.
Modern psychology acknowledges the devastating effects of sustained manipulation, coercion, humiliation, mind-games, threats, gaslighting, and psychological domination. In many cases, victims are driven to self-harm, addiction, or suicide. They lose years of their lives to recovery. Their personalities change. Their futures shrink.
Yet our legal systems remain reluctant to intervene unless the pain is physical.
That reluctance must end.
We need legal definitions of emotional abuse that recognize intent and long-term harm.
We need mechanisms for reporting psychological violence.
We need trained officers and counselors.
We need penalties.
We need accountability.
If the harm of emotional abuse is devastating, then the law must defend those who endure it.
As a society, we have evolved enough to understand that cruelty does not always strike with fists—sometimes it strikes with words, silence, manipulation, and control.
Victims should not have to wait for violence to become visible before they are believed.
Or protected.
The law must stand not only against the force that breaks bones, but also against the force that breaks the soul.
