Social values and beliefs have long supported the notions that women and children are the property of men, that men have the right to control their wives and children, that men have the right to have sex with their wives, and that husbands should beat their wives as necessary to maintain family order and their own authority. Social and legal traditions have created and maintained a belief that men have a right to control their female partners and children. In British Common Law, women ceased to exist as a legal entity when they married. This belief system prevailed in other arenas, such as religion. Rape was not a crime against the female victim but a crime against the father or husband.
Different cultures offer other proverbs that condone violence against and oppression of women.
Rejection of the status quo About 150 years ago, people began to move toward finding violence against women unacceptable. In 1872, Alabama became the first state to outlaw domestic violence, followed by Massachusetts that same year. By 1911, all states except Mississippi had outlawed domestic violence. In the 1960s, child abuse began to be recognized as a major social problem and began to be addressed through programming, legislation and policy initiatives. The abuse of women by their partners, however, remained in the shadows.