Almost 70 per cent of police officers across England and Wales, as well as many MPs, have urged increased protection for children, by making emotional cruelty to them illegal.
While there are already substantial laws in place against the physical abuse of children, experts have said that they are not as protected from emotional harm as adults are under the current system. While the law regarding domestic violence was updated earlier this year to cover emotional abuse, no changes have been made as regards this form of abuse to children.
The Children and Young Persons Act is more than 80 years old and needs updating to include emotional neglect such as forcing a child to witness domestic violence and enforcing degrading punishments upon a child, experts have said.
Tomorrow, proposals to “close a legislative gap”, which currently ensures emotional neglect is not included under the criminal definition of child neglect, will be debated in Parliament, the Independent reported. Already, more than 80 MPs from across all parties have urged the Ministry of Justice to review the law.
Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams told the newspaper: “The law, as it is, fails to protect some of the most vulnerable children throughout England and Wales. If the Government is really serious about safeguarding children, the law has to be changed.”
Research has shown that children who are subjected to emotional abuse are far more likely to develop mental health problems in the future, as well as having poor social skills or falling into the criminal justice system.