Husbands can be jailed for insulting wives under new French law

Submitted by anthony on Tue, 2010-07-06 16:12

Story here. Excerpt:

'The law – the first of its kind – means that partners who make such insults or threats of physical violence faces up to three years in prison and a €75,000 (£60,000) fine.

French magistrates have slammed the new legislation as "inapplicable", as they argue the definition of what constitutes an insult is too vague and verbal abuse too hard to prove.

Nadine Morano, the junior family minister, told the National Assembly that "we have introduced an important measure here, which recognises psychological violence, because it isn't just blows (that hurt), but also words."

Miss Morano said the primary abuse help line for French women got 90,000 calls a year, with 84 per cent concerning psychological violence.

But men now also have the right to report their wives verbal abuse in a domestic row.

It will apply to both married couples and cohabiting partners.

The bill, which has been unanimously approved by French MPs, defines mental violence as "repeated acts that could be constituted by words," including insults or repeated text messages that "degrade one's quality of life and cause a change to one's mental or physical state."'

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Comments

this line of thinking is just so stupid. how can you legally define verbal abuse in adult relationships.

would if the person cheated on you and you yell at them and put them down for that? would if the spouse constantly flirts with others? would if your not the marriage/committed type of person? in that case all the typical relationship stuff would seem like pressure/abuse (phone calls, dinners, ect.)

There is no right and wrong in these cases and the government has no place to say who was the victim in the relationship is or how a relationship is supposed to be.

would if its in your nature to be honest and direct. is it wrong to give the truth as you see it if it hurts a loved one. being around someone depressed can be depressing itself because of they're negative outlook (which will be reflected in what they say). so I must assume by the law that it is wrong to be depressed.

because people have different beliefs and needs and I don't understand how you can find who was wronged in a relationship based on a criteria of feelings.

the bottom line is whether or not you have freedom of speech.

on a side note women seem to be more verbally abusive and controlling in relationships but I bet this law was made for their protection.

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Submitted by fondueguy on Wed, 2010-07-07 06:17

"words hurt" - they do not.

We used to teach "Sticks and stones can break your bones but words can NEVER hurt you"....unless you are a total pussy and are stupid enough to let them. The schools have gone to the other extreme, and instead of teaching kids to be tough so the words don't matter, they are teaching them to CRY when someone insults them. This is stupidity at its finest.

Now, the issue at hand is really pretty pathetic. If we REALLY start documenting what is said in a household we may just find that women are FAR FAR more abusive, psychologically, than men. And why? Because they are smaller and weaker and learned how to manipulate men to get their way. They teach this to the girls in the media and in the little social clicks that girls are so fond of associating in.

Its really quite pathetic. And if there were equality in the law, far more women would be prosecuted for abusive language than men ever will be.

oregon dad

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Submitted by oregon dad on Sun, 2010-07-11 23:34