Many researchers say that this pandemic has increased the crime of abuse in the households whether it be physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse. To some extent it is true but:

• what about the people and especially the women who have been going through the verbal and emotional abuse since ages behind the closed doors?
• Why the neighbours and the society only discern and hear the abuse but don’t do anything to against it?
• Why women hesitate to complain against their husbands who don’t think twice before abusing their wives, whether it be under the influence of alcohol or in a fully conscious mind?
• Do we really need some stringent laws to prevent the verbal and emotional abuse?\\

In this research work, my objective is to highlight the multiple facets that are associated with the abuse that seems menial to us but they are really contagious.

If we talk about the awareness regarding verbal and emotional abuse, then we will meet with hopelessness and despair to know that 20-25% of the people are not even aware about the term verbal and emotional abuse. They take it as a quite normal thing. To them there is no such crime of verbal abuse.

What is more astonishing is the statistics of people suffering from the abuse as no proper percentage is available on the sources. Why? The reason could be us. Why we don’t give the same level of importance to the verbal and emotional abuse, as we give to the physical and sexual abuse?

Meaning
Verbal abuse can be defined as a kind of violence in which the abuser uses destructive words against the victim in order to harass or humiliate him/her. It could be about the character, looks of the person or could be anything. Many men commit the offence of verbal abuse under the influence of alcohol. But, is that a defence for them? The question is why only women are targeted by men under the influence of intoxication? It’s not that the verbal abuse is committed only against women, but yes, they are the supreme victims of abuse.

Emotional abuse takes place when the abuser tries to control the other person or puts dominance over him/her in a way of psychological trauma. Emotional abuse is vicious as it directly affects the mind of the victim that can lead to depression and anxiety and sometimes can even lead to death.

Verbal and emotional abuse are kind of related to each other but, if we want to build a disjunction between these two, then it can be said that verbal abuse involves yelling, shouting ,shaming or harassing  whereas emotional abuse includes controlling, isolation, menacing and so on.


Nowadays, people are evolving themselves with the knowledge of mental health, they are getting to know more about the benefits of good mental health. Then think of the devastation it can cause to a person’s mind who are being victimized of the emotional and verbal abuse. Let us look at the prodromes of abuse and the detoriation it can lead to.

Prodromes and Risks

• In verbal abuse, the abuser tries to mock or harass the other person either in public or personally.They use demeaning words in order to outrage the modesty of that person.
• Their behaviour and way of speaking can indicate the onset of verbal abuse.
• Many verbal abuse takes place under the influence of alcohol .They even try to degrade the character of the individual that is very gruesome for the mental stability of the victim.
• They go through this on a daily basis but don’t gain the courage to stand against the abuse.
• In emotional abuse, the abuser tries to control the victim or it could be the usage of  demeaning tactics to  give the psychological trauma, it can cause deep harm to the victim which sometimes take the life of the unheard voice.

Although, there are some sections in the Indian Legal system that deals with the verbal and emotional abuse, but they don’t seem to be directly effective for the victims. The abuse are punishable under
 
Section 294 of the Indian Penal code
Punishes with fine or imprisonment for obscene acts or words in public.
 
Section 509 of the Indian Penal code
Punishes with fine or imprisonment for a term of one year for the person intending to insult the modesty of any women, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such women, or intrudes upon the privacy of such women.
 
Section 66(A) of the IT Act
Criminalises sending of offensive messages through communication services, electronic media.
 
Section 498 A of the Indian penal code
Criminalises cruelty to women, with a punishment upto 3 years and fine.
We have these laws with us, but we can’t make it to the fullest unless we make use of it.
Why do the victims of verbal and emotional abuse hesitate to confront the abusers?

We can ponder over some of the reasons stated below:

1. The victim could be emotional weak in front of the abuser
2. He/she are afraid of the repercussions their children or family members may face in the future if they complain against the abuser.
3. The abuser could be the breadwinner of the family and this fact resists the victim to complain against him/her.
4. The laws are not strict enough to solve the problem of verbal and emotional abuse.
5. The victims may be in need of a support system who can encourage them to fight against the cruelty.

Course of Action Required
As we saw above the reasons and the risks than can take place by the abuse, we should now have a look to the different course of actions required to prevent this crime that do the indepth harm to the individual.

• Develop awareness about the abuse going on in your family or in the society and immediately file a complaint against it.
• There are various counseling mechanisms that are there to help the victims of the abuse. If you couldn’t find any solution to the problem, immediately consult them.
• Encourage the victims of verbal and emotional abuse to raise their voices against the abuse and provide them with a long decisional mechanism.
• Ensure proper legal support from the authorities to the victims.
• We should be honest with ourselves in saying that the legal remedies available in this respect is not sufficient, Hence, stricter laws are needed to really punish the accused.
  
  

Conclusion and Analysis
It’s high time that we recognize the importance of abluting the verbal and emotional abuse. We should start giving importance to these abuse that takes place between the four walls  and understand the detestable effects it can have on the mental capacity of the victim. A legal reform along with the societal reform is the need of the hour. People should try to help the victim of verbal and emotional abuse instead of watching the show.

Award Winning Article Is Written By: Ms.Aishwarya

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