Fight emotional abuse too
In light of the fact that SA is currently fighting a metaphorical war against gender-based violence, I find it a suitable time to raise the issue of an equally disturbing and dangerous type of abuse that anyone, especially children, may find themselves victims of – psychological abuse.
Society as a whole is fully aware of the multitudes of acts of violence against women – physical, emotional and unforgivable. Violence of this sort is a crime that must be rectified through our judiciary system.
It is a crime that many women across our country suffer from, as it transcends racial and class barriers and is such an ongoing issue in our country that it has led women to take a stand together, as in the #TotalShutDown movement.
This is a demonstration reminiscent of the suffrages and has personified the anger of women in our country.
Alongside gender abuse stands psychological or emotional abuse, which has not become an issue being discussed by the media or by other important loudspeakers in our country, but is as frequent and dangerous as any other type of abuse and can grow silently in any household.
Generally, psychological abuse involves any form of “aggravating, minimising and denying”, in any malicious manner, and can be perpetrated by a female or male parent or adult figure in the same household as the child.
This type of abuse, hidden from the outside world as it is, and as universal as any other form of abuse, can lead to the abused child feeling frustrated, hopeless and anxious and can manifest into the same mental illnesses a victim of physical abuse can suffer, such as stress disorder or drug addiction.
Sadly, mental illness is not at the forefront of the problems South Africans are trying to solve. One only needs to look at Esidimeni and the sad loss of Dr Bongani Mayosi to understand this.
Psychological abuse is not yet a trending issue in our media, yet the changing zeitgeist of my generation is making way for what is an acute issue, to be discussed and solved.
With this in mind, the media should investigate and break the silence on this abuse. An abuse victim Cameron Martin