Why dont people take verbal abuse seriously?

i was in a very abusive relationship awhile back where the guy was verbally abusive. he called m awful things if i didnt sleep with him. he screamed at me if i left my room a mess when he came over. he turned many of my friends on me. called me a dirty whore because my mom was gay. by the time anyone actually noticed that anything was wrong he had total domination over me. he had me believing that i was slow and stupid and a slimy, filthy whore and he was a saint, patient and gentle. he never once laid a hand on me in anger. he held me to hard sometimes, but he never meant to hurt me, i dont think. but he called me stupid and made me terrified to be around him and even more so to not be. i thought he'd kill me if i denied him. dumping him was social suicide since everyone saw him as a great person, sweet, the quarterback and an all around good person, a gentlemen. and no one believed me. i went to the cops and they told me that without physical evidence of such abuse there was no way to prove that it ever happened. it was my word against my ex's and he won. the police didnt even give me a chance. why? why is it that no one believes in this? verbal abuse is just as real as physical and has very similar outcomes. so why cant people treat the same?