The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) say their helplines are receiving more calls from children who are suffering from emotional abuse than ever before.
New figures published in the NSPCC report How Safe Are Our Children? show that calls from children who are being emotionally abused by parents have increased by 200 percent from 3,341 in 2009/10 to 10,009 in 2016/17, according to The Independent.
Helpline staff have received calls from kids whose parents told them they hated them or wished they were dead, blamed them for problems their parents were experiencing and threatened them with violence.
Last year alone the charity dealt with over 10,000 reports of emotional abuse - the equivalent of 27 cases per day. Three-quarters of reports received were deemed severe enough to be passed on to the police or child services.
Helpline staff say that they noticed common themes in reports of emotional abuse, including domestic violence, alcohol or substance abuse and mental health issues in the home.
Ongoing emotional abuse can leave a child vulnerable to developing serious issues in later life, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance misuse and suicidal feelings and can make a child feel worthless and unloved, according to the NSPCC.
The last study of this kind took place in 2009 and the NSPCC say they have noticed certain other changes in the new report, including increased reporting of online abuse and child sexual abuse.
It is unclear how many children in the UK are suffering from emotional abuse and other forms of abuse because of a lack of research.
The NSPCC are calling on the government to commission a nationwide study to examine the extent of child abuse and neglect in the UK.
Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive said: “Hearing reports from our helpline about parents or carers who are consistently verbally assaulting, bullying, isolating or humiliating their children is devastating.
“The huge increase in people recognising and reporting emotional abuse to our helpline indicates people are willing to take action, but the disturbing truth is that the UK has no idea how many other children are suffering from emotional abuse or in fact, any type of abuse.
“We urgently need Government to step in now, before another eight years go by, and commission a study that gives us the clearest possible picture of the extent of child abuse and neglect in the UK.”
