ABSTRACT
This chapter explains what intimate partner or "domestic" violence is and how pervasive a problem it remains. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is overwhelmingly a crime perpetrated by men against women. The chapter presents a study that aims to compare medieval and modern religious and theological responses to IPV. In the diverse contexts, directions for submission in the face of abuse are generally given to women who are partnered with men. Therefore, the focus will lie on heterosexual female victims. IPV often follows specific patterns, sometimes referred to collectively as the "cycle of abuse," which includes three phases: an explosion, when the violence occurs; a "honeymoon phase," when the batterer apologizes and promises it will never happen again, often bringing the victim flowers and showing affection in similar ways; and a tension-building phase, in which victims often describe life as walking on eggshells, knowing that at any provocation the batterer could explode again in violence.
