Parents who deny their children love or affection could be jailed for up to ten years, under new laws being introduced in Britain.
Changes to child neglect laws will make ’emotional cruelty’ a crime for the first time, alongside physical or sexual abuse.
Parents found guilty under the “Cinderella Law”, which will be introduced in the Queen’s Speech in early June, could face up to ten years in prison. The new laws are aimed at safeguarding children’s social, emotional and behavioural well-being.
The new offence would make it a crime to do anything that deliberately harmed a child’s “physical intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development”, including deliberately ignoring a child, not showing a child love over prolonged periods of time, or any actions that could damage a child’s emotional development.
It is also believed degrading forms of punishment, children manipulated in legal cases or a child who is a witness to domestic violence will be actions that could see parents facing charges under the new law.
