ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the historical practices of how ancient and modern societies treated women and children in their struggles to be free from domestic and intimate partner violence. It retraces historical developments and legal interventions from early Colonial America to modern times that address domestic and intimate partner violence. Most important, the chapter establishes the foundation and rationale for many of our current laws and provides an analysis of laws that actually espoused or condoned domestic violence. The chapter emphasizes American judicial responses with a focus on landmark cases that changed laws to protect victims and hold offenders accountable. Equal attention in shown to the role of social movements – including early women’s rights movement and the civil rights movement – and the second wave of feminism to bring about change. The chapter also includes the federal legislation and congressional actions that produced the Violence Against Women’s Act. These laws are evaluated in terms of their impact toward reducing domestic and intimate partner violence.
