protect women and children from psychological violence in marriages, like verbal abuse, intimidation, and bullying.

We already have laws to protect strangers and coworkers from harassment, intimidation, and verbal assault, yet we exempt intimate partners from equal protection. The law recognizes that withholding education from children is harmful, yet it ignores the serious harm to children of watching their parents engage in psychological abuse. Children of abusive homes are at increased risk of alcoholism, drug abuse, criminality, emotional disorder, and poverty. They are much more likely to become either abusers or victims themselves according to Dr. Steven Stosny, Ph.D.