France To Make Psychological Abuse in Marriages a Crime … With Electronic Monitoring

There is an interesting debate occurring in France over a law that will make the country the first to criminalize “psychological violence” within marriage. A spouse who engages in psychological abuse will be criminally charged and potentially forced to wear “electronic tagging.”

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said “It’s an important step forward as the creation of this offence will allow us to deal with the most insidious situations – situations that leave no visible scars, but which leave victims torn up inside.”

He said that his government would also be experimenting with devices that would “monitor the effectiveness of restraining orders against a violent spouse.”

Various experts and civil libertarians have raised obvious concerns: Psychologist Anne Giraud said: “Squabbling couples will allege all kinds of things about each other, but they won’t necessarily be true.”

The government monitoring of the marriage could be a bit of a awkward element at breakfast: “Yes, my sweet, my turtle dove, I am greatly displeased by your decision but I respect your right to make it.” That gets a green light from the marriage monitors.

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