Child emotional abuse is severe and persistent ill-treatment of a child and it can have longlasting and devastating effects on the child’s emotional health and psyche and development. Child emotional abuse needs to be addressed in relation to the relationships and the environment of a child. It is very important to focus on the safety and wellbeing of the child and also to identify the factors involved in child emotional abuse. Child emotional abuse can affect a child from infancy, through adolescence and into adulthood. Signs of emotional abuse may also be present in a child’s actions, or their physical, mental and emotional development. In the light of the above, in this paper, an attempt is made to analyze the concept of child emotional abuse; various types of emotional abuse in relation to children; and the causes, effects and identification of child emotional abuse. Further, an attempt is also made to suggest certain solutions to deal with child emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse is an assault on the child’s psyche, just as physical abuse is an assault on the child’s body.1 Children are the citizens of tomorrow. It is the duty of every country to ensure that the children are healthy and develop in a holistic manner and not be a burden to the society. Right to good health is an important component of Right to life2 which is guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The most important International Convention which focuses on the rights of children is the International Convention on Rights of the Child popularly known as the CRC. It emphasizes on the protection of rights of children, which includes the basic rights to life, health and development of children.3 Though this convention lays down that no child should be sexually abused, it does not mention about child emotional abuse. Further, in India, we do not have any legislation which deals with child emotional abuse directly. When a child is emotionally abused it affects his health, his right to life and dignity. Child emotional abuse has failed to gather the required attention and hence faces many hurdles relating to solving the issue. Further, there are other impediments in dealing with it, as it is difficult to assimilate the causes, evidence regarding the abuse, extent of abuse, etc. Child emotional abuse does not result in physical evidence such as bruising or malnutrition, hence it is very hard to diagnose it. Child emotional abuse is a problem which has spread to a large extent in the society. It is very important to deal with emotional abuse of children as it is a serious problem and can be more damaging than physical abuse. Child emotional abuse can have long-lasting effects on the psyche of the child and this in turn may be detrimental to the society. Verbal harassment in the form of criticism, threats, rejection, ridicule, etc., are the different ways in which a child may be emotionally abused. Abuse can also take the form of being neglected, which may include both lack of physical caretaking and supervision and also failure on the part of the parents and caretakers to deal with the developmental needs of children in terms of their cognitive stimulation. Rejection and ill-treatment are the components of emotional child abuse. Victims of abuse often complain of fear, anxiety, loneliness, lack of emotional support and powerlessness when terrorized or tormented by parents and caretakers. The popular slogan, “words can hit as hard as fists” is true when hurtful words are often used, and they mean to hurt.4 Gestures, the tone of voice, manner, frequency and intensity of the words in a relationship also convey that the child is not being appreciated or loved and amounts to emotional child abuse. Being highly critical, not giving him emotional support and being hostile and low on warmth is also emotional child abuse.

Law Review Journal, Child, Abuse, Causes, Effects, International Convention, Identifying, Preventing, Child Emotional Abuse, Remedies.