I was wondering if there are any legal rights for a woman who has been verbally abused. Is it legal to record the verbal abuse? Will a judge take 'word-of-mouth' verbal abuse horror stories seriously? I have no physical scars, but the emotional ones are very deep, yet I feel it would be a he-said, she-said situation, and I feel sad and trapped. – Sarah

Answer:

Sarah: Words can hurt more than physical abuse and the pain can last longer. If the words are threats of physical violence, a party can be put out of the house in my jurisdiction. And cruelty is one of the grounds for divorce here. Another name for word-of-mouth is testimony and yes the judges do take that seriously. But judges are only human and there is no lie detector at the bench.