From the Daily Mail online: France Introduces New Law Banning 'Psychological Violence' In Marriages
France will become the first country in the world to ban 'psychological violence' within marriage later this year.
The new law, which would also apply to co-habiting couples, would see people getting criminal records for insulting their loved ones during domestic arguments.
Electronic tagging would be used on repeat offenders, according to the country's prime minister, Francois Fillon, who announced the law.
If it proves successful, it could be introduced in other European countries including Britain.
But critics dismissed the measure as a 'gimmick' which would be impossible to implement.
The law is particularly aimed at protecting women who currently suffer the worst attacks of this kind, ranging from off-hand comments about their appearance to threats of physical violence.
He added that his government would also be experimenting with electronic surveillance measures to 'monitor the effectiveness of restraining orders against a violent spouse'.
Psychologist Anne Giraud said: 'Squabbling couples will allege all kinds of things about each other, but they won't necessarily be true.
'The police are likely to be called out more and more when this law comes into force this year, but often it will be a case of one person's word against the other.
'Psychological violence is a very serious matter, but punishing it through the courts is a very different matter altogether.'
Critics have also said the government should not be intervening in private domestic arguments in which no one got hurt.
Sociologist Pierre Bonnet said: 'The next step will be to make rudeness a criminal offence. The police and courts will be over-stretched trying to deal with the numerous cases.'
Nanny-statism at its worst, folks. Granted - spouses ought not insult each other, while arguing or not, and they should treat each other with mutual love and respect. Should it be a loveless marriage, then at the very least, common decency and courtesy ought to prevail. And under no circumstances should either spouse be subjected to verbal abuse, or threats to their physical well-being. But this new law seems to edge closer to criminalizing hurting another person's feelings.
Usually arguments end with the husband saying "I'm sorry", but with this law, the argument will end with the husband saying "I'm innocent!" As any married person knows, arguments get resolved within time, usually after a cooling-off period, and then the problem can be addressed and handled calmly and peaceably. At least, that's a good approach. But as soon as the police are involved, and the cooling-off period means a night in a jail cell, I fail to see how any argument would ever get resolved.
According to the article, this new law aims to protect women from 'psychological violence', but let's be realistic. Women are pretty good at hurling word bombs their husbands' way as well. So will men be afforded protection under this law? If Mrs LeGrouch calls her spouse a lazy no-good slob, would he call the police to complain of psychological violence? [insert French weenie "I surrender!" stereotype caricature joke here] Probably not. But if the husband suggests that perhaps Mlle deBlob could stand to lose a few pounds....call the gendarmes!!
A scary part of this law is the "electronic surveillance measures". Does that mean the state will install cameras in the family's home? Who will be monitoring those cameras? And what will the state be doing with the hours and hours of digital video? Very very slippery slope.
One role of the state is to ensure the safety of its citizens, and it could be argued that this law attempts to do that. However, what will end up happening is the state's continued encroachment into the family, inserting itself further where it has no business being. There's no sense that this law is aimed to improve or strengthen marriages - since it also covers co-habiting couples - but rather to further divide them. The state is not interested in strengthening the family because then the family would have less need of the state. This law is designed to shatter families. It is designed to come between husband wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters (I can see an expansion of this law to cover those relationships as well), thus making the state the final arbiter in who lives with whom and who shall remain married.
Another point - the true test of this law will be when a Muslim woman brings charges against her husband. And should a similar law be enacted in Britain, will it be equally applied in areas where sharia law is in effect?
