Criminalizing "Psychological violence"

[The Shadow]

France mulls "psychological violence" ban

If you insult your wife or husband repeatedly, you could soon find yourself in court if you live in France.

The charge? Psychological violence.

That's what the new offence will be called if a bill backed by the government is passed by parliament.

Once considered a purely private domain, rows between married or cohabiting couples could now prompt intervention from the state.

Well, while the idea may sound good on paper, I have some misgivings about it; the biggest one being that from a practical standpoint, this new law may be almost impossible to enforce.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

At best it's one step further on the road to banning anger / assholes. At worst, it's crossing the mother of all fine lines.... significantly...

[Boozy]

It will be a nightmare from both a legal and civil rights perspective.

However, ignoring the obvious freedom of speech issues, the legal problems are intriguing. How does one assess psychological harm? As human beings, we all bleed the same when shot. But we react very, very differently when told to "fuck off". Some people would laugh it off. Some people would be devastated. Is the "attacker" really responsible for how someone is made to feel emotionally?

[jackfaire]

And are we talking primarily domestic violence situations? At this time if a person is psychologically abused and kills their abuser after snapping they are pretty much guilty of a crime without being able to use their abuse as their defense.

[Greenday]

I'm pretty sure this is already illegal in America. It'd go under abuse/harassment.

[BlaqueKatt]

However, ignoring the obvious freedom of speech issues,

well considering France doesn't abide by the Us constitution I really don't think that's much of an issue really....

But even over here "freedom of speech" does not mean freedom from consequences of said speech

And it's possible the abuse laws over there only cover physical abuse, not psychological-which can be just as bad or worse. After all it's usually the psychological abuse that causes an abused person to stay with the abuser.

[Fryk]

But if a government is enforcing legal sanctionc on speech it does not approve of, how is it free speech?

[Wingates_Hellsing]

There is a fine line (VERY fine, but a line none the less for it) between what this law could apply to and harassment.

For instance: A non-stop picketing campaign, or specific bullying and/or pre-meditated torture usually falls under the heading of harassment, or some equivalent.

This however, could potentially apply to people not being nice to each other on a regular basis. There are those who stand to be scarred for life if someone insults or belittles them too often, but the obvious solution is to simply not pursue any sort of relationship with that person. There are already categories under which a potential inability to sever contact can be dealt with, restraining orders (stalkers) hostile work environment (bosses, coworkers) etc.

To me, the outstanding issue lies in that this opens the door to possibly punish someone for expressing an opinion, simply because it's a negative opinion.

P.S. I hope this post is legible through my mind fog

[Boozy]

well considering France doesn't abide by the Us constitution I really don't think that's much of an issue really....

I fail to see how freedom of speech becomes a non-issue just because it's not codified into a country's laws the same way it is in the US.

That's like saying theft isn't a problem in Somalia because there aren't any laws against it.

[BlaqueKatt]

I fail to see how freedom of speech becomes a non-issue just because it's not codified into a country's laws the same way it is in the US.

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation.

guess what they do have censorship and limitation-so no "freedom of speech" and as it's not a protected "right" it can be infringed upon with however many laws they like-heck they could pass a law tomorrow saying you cannot say the word pink on a tuesday or you'll go to prison-no recourse as there is no protected right being violated.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation.

guess what they do have censorship and limitation-so no "freedom of speech" and as it's not a protected "right" it can be infringed upon with however many laws they like-heck they could pass a law tomorrow saying you cannot say the word pink on a tuesday or you'll go to prison-no recourse as there is no protected right being violated.

Which is, if anything, a reason to be more concerned over infringements, as there's no capacity for limiting them and not much for preventing them.

[Boozy]

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation.

guess what they do have censorship and limitation-so no "freedom of speech" and as it's not a protected "right" it can be infringed upon with however many laws they like-heck they could pass a law tomorrow saying you cannot say the word pink on a tuesday or you'll go to prison-no recourse as there is no protected right being violated.

I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say, so I'll re-phrase.

I am not concerned about freedom of speech laws within the French system. I am concerned about freedom of speech from a human rights perspective. As such, the fact that France does not protect freedom of speech is an issue for me.