Is it true that domestic violence was legal until the 1980's?

Question

I found some newspapers stories as far back as the early 1900's of men being prosecuted for wife beating, but every article I read about domestic violence seems to suggest otherwise. Does anyone have a female relative who was assaulted by her husband prior to the 1980's and was able to prosecute him?

Answer 1

Prior to the 1980s most law enforcement agencies viewed domestic violence as a private matter. Few perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted unless there was significant physical harm done to the victim.
In the 1980s, however, domestic violence became crime against the state rather than against the person. There no longer was a need for the victim to testify.

Answer 2

Back then, women were generally placed in mental institutions for talking back, having an Opinion of her own or stand up for herself. I hope those sorts of Records are Burned, because it was Freudian Psychologists that did it, in their Social engineering schemes. (See the Biography of Sigmund Schlomo Freud by Jones)

Nope and in some places it is Still Legal. Men are given Less time for killing women than the other way around. The articles You are looking at are true and children were treated no better. Illinois was one of the First states to be Progressive and aggresively pass legislation to change that. States like Nevada, Colorado would rather put both parties in jail, no matter how much larger he is than her and how much more strength he has than a female. These states also have a very Bad habit of calling Biological females men, especially If the Police or authorities use it as an excuse to promote harm to assertive and Mouthy women. I would not want to live with them, because they are generally Abusers themselves!

Answer 3

It was only in the 1980s that states began assuming the power to prosecute domestic violence cases even without the victim's testimony.

Before then, an abused spouse (male or female) had to press charges. Most did not.

Answer 4

Also, it was felt that "coporal punishment" within a family was not a matter for law enforcement.

Of course, the fallacy in that reasoning was that they didn't do anything about behavior that any civilized person would at least suspect was criminal.

It took a long time for society to face up to this.

Answer 5

It's always been illegal. Heck, it was even illegal to whip a slave back in the days of the antebellum south. It's all a matter of perspective. It Is true however, that wives were for a long time, looked upon more as children (property) than as "equals."

Answer 6

For what its worth, its still legal to beat your wife once a month in Arkansas.

Answer 7

no