The 1994 Violence Against Women Act needs to ensure psychological abuse is included in the definition of domestic abuse and is made a criminal offense. Currently the Violence Against Women Act defines domestic abuse as "domestic violence misdemeanor is one in which someone is convicted for a crime committed by an intimate partner, parent, or guardian of the victim that requires the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon". But domestic abuse is severely identified through emotional abuse and there needs to be justification for victims of psychological abuse to take legal action. There needs to be an ensured proactive framework that notices mental abuse as a criminal offense worthy of jail time for women who fall victim of all kinds of domestic violence to feel they have a legal way out of their abusive relationship.
