NICE, France (July 1) -- Psychological violence is now a criminal offense in France, but some judges say the new law may be difficult to enforce and prosecute. 

The law, passed unanimously Tuesday by the French Parliament, targets verbal insults or repeated text messages that "degrade one's quality of life and cause a change to one's mental or physical state." It applies to both sexes but is primarily designed to help women who are also victims of physical abuse. 

Those found guilty under the law face up to three years in prison and up to $92,000 in fines. An electronic bracelet to keep the perpetrator away from the victim for up to three years may also be part of the penalty.

The law is aimed at couples living with or without benefit of marriage in the home; it is not meant to be enforced on the street between strangers.

Nadine Morano, the secretary of state for family, told the French Parliament the law is important because it recognizes that "not just blows but also words" can harm people.

Morano cited statistics showing that 84 percent of the roughly 90,000 annual calls to the country's main domestic abuse hot line for women concern psychological violence.

Last fall, Prime Minister Francois Fillon called the proposed law a means for dealing with a type of injury that never comes with bruises. Fillon said the law was for "the most insidious situations, which don't leave a mark to the naked eye but can mutilate the victim's inner self."

But the head of France's biggest magistrate union, USM, told the Journal du Dimanche that the law's biggest weakness is the difficulty in proving psychological violence, which may come down to a he-said-she-said situation in the home, where objective witnesses often don't exist.

"The problem is, How do you show proof?" Virginie Duval said. "The law was modeled after the laws against moral and sexual harassment. Harassment is already difficult enough to prove in the workplace, where there are witnesses."

But Ernestine Ronai, director of an organization for battered women in Paris, said the law is a breakthrough and will be of enormous value even if prosecution is difficult.

"Even if every case doesn't end up in court, it's important to be able to tell a woman psychologically abused by her husband or boyfriend that he doesn't have the legal right to do that," Ronai told the Journal du Dimanche.

Ronai added that doctors and psychiatrists will be able to show evidence in court that an abused woman patient has had post-traumatic stress or had to stop working.

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