SILENT SCARES: EXAMINING THE LEGAL INADEQUACY IN ADDRESSING VERBAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN IN INDIA

“Children typically experience violence at the hands of the people they trust most.” - UNICEF. Verbal abuse is the most prevalent form of abuse that a child goes through in India, and it is yet the least recognised form of child abuse. Unlike physical abuse, verbal abuse never leaves scars or visible injuries on a child, but it leaves them with something deeper, which makes it very difficult to address and identify the effect of it on the child's psychological, emotional and social development. Although India already has established legal mechanisms that protect its children from abuse, the regulation of parental verbal abuse remains limited. This paper critically examines the existing framework that governs child protection laws in India, with particular emphasis on the treatment of verbal and emotional abuse within the family. This paper identifies the gap between legislation and enforcement, and the process of legal reforms aimed at strengthening the protection of children from non-physical forms of abuse, which balances parental rights with the best interests of the child. Keywords: Verbal abuse, child psychology, social development, child protection laws.