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Domestic violence is one of the world’s worst human rights problems, aff ecting an estimated one-third of all women and between one-quarter and one-third of all women in the United States. It is a signifi cant source of all violent crime and par- ticularly violent crime against women. Abuse obviously aff ects victims and their families, but it also aff ects everyone in a so- ciety. Domestic violence costs the country billions annually, through direct costs such as medical bills and policing to less- direct costs such as lost productivity. Children who grow up in abusive homes are more likely to become abusers or victims as adults, perpetuating the cycle of abuse. Further, abuse in a dat- ing relationship is the most common type of violence experi- enced by youth. At its worst, domestic violence is deadly, with an estimated 1,400 women and men in the United States killed each year by abusers. It is also one of the leading causes of death for police offi cers and it accounts for more than 50 percent of mass shootings in the United States. Abuse of one’s partner was legally allowable through much of human history, as women were considered possessions. Although activists attempted to draw attention to the issue as early as the 1800s, and Puritans in Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth actually did enact laws prohibiting spousal abuse, it wasn’t until the Women’s Rights Movement, or what is often called the second wave of feminism, that domestic violence be- came a topic of signifi cant public attention. Women often had Preface xv