Have you ever noticed how the divorce rate in the United States has rapidly increased within the past fifty years? As you can see, families are splitting up left and right, mainly because couples just don't get along with each other, but a majority of it is due to domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is not just when someone is getting hit, but it is also when there is verbal abuse getting tossed back and forth among the couple. Today's media sheds light on the atrocities of domestic violence in modern society by increasing the awareness of spousal abuse and children's mental welfare as seen in literary works such as Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen and music by Alanis Morissette.
Domestic violence has been around for thousands of years and only recently has it been addressed as a major problem. Late 1870's, when men "ruled the house" there was a law called the "Rule of thumb" which allowed the husband to beat his wife with a rod no bigger than his thumb (Attorney General's family violence task force). This law was passed by the Federal court and was applicable until the late 1970's when women started to speak out and fight for their rights These women spoke out because there was no attention being paid to the amount of women killed from abuse every year. Along with this law were new laws to protect children from physical abuse. Even though these laws were passed, children were still beaten and verbally abused by their parents. Police have never really enforced these laws until recently because of death to the women from abuse. In today's society, domestic abuse is a very common term among families.
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