Introduction
Introduction
Experts can't be sure if domestic violence is on the rise, because of statistics-gathering limitations. But one thing is certain: For a woman living in the United States today, the chances are greater that she will be assaulted or raped in her own home by someone she knows than by a stranger on the street. Only in recent years have doctors, law enforcement officials and judges begun taking new steps to protect women from abusive partners. Does the solution lie in tougher arrest policies for batterers? An overhaul of societal attitudes towards women? New educational programs for schoolchildren? As American society copes with what the American Medical Association calls a problem of “epidemic proportions,” such questions are sparking a vigorous debate.