We are petitioning the following decision makers to take action:

🏛️ Maine State Legislature – to rewrite the legal definition of abuse to include emotional and psychological harm.

👩‍⚖️ Governor Janet Mills – to support these legal reforms and advocate for children’s emotional safety across state agencies.

🧑‍⚕️ Maine Department of Health & Human Services – Child & Family Services Division – to implement trauma-informed standards, training, and child protection protocols that recognize emotional abuse as a legitimate form of harm.

Emotional abuse is real—and it hurts just as deeply as physical abuse. But in the state of Maine, emotional and psychological harm—especially when it happens inside families—is not clearly recognized under current legal definitions of abuse.

This means countless children, including my own, remain unprotected from subtle yet destructive forms of emotional control, gaslighting, chronic criticism, and manipulation. These forms of abuse leave no visible bruises but often leave deep emotional scars that affect a child’s development, self-worth, and mental health well into adulthood.

As a parent and survivor, I’ve witnessed how emotional abuse—especially from narcissistic or emotionally immature caregivers—causes invisible harm that is just as damaging as physical violence.

We are calling on Maine lawmakers, DHHS (Department of Health & Human Services), and Child Protective Services to:

✅ Expand the legal definition of abuse in Maine to explicitly include emotional and psychological abuse.

✅ Train mandated reporters (teachers, doctors, counselors, etc.) and child protection workers to recognize the signs of emotional abuse in children.

✅ Implement trauma-informed prevention and intervention strategies that prioritize emotional safety alongside physical safety.

Emotional abuse isn’t “just family stuff.” It’s abuse. And children deserve to be protected from all forms of harm—not just the ones that leave visible wounds.

Even though this petition starts in Maine—it has the power to create a ripple effect. When one state takes a stand, others follow. By rewriting how Maine defines abuse, we can inspire legal change across the nation. But that movement has to begin somewhere. And it starts here.

If we don’t name it, we can’t break the cycle.

Sign this petition to urge Maine to protect children and families from emotional abuse. Let’s stop the silence—starting now.