Woman-battering includes various methods of torturous physical violence. An even larger percentage of women have been subjected to psychological violence, a form of mental abuse often used to dominate, control and destabilize the woman. For some women, the constant insults and tyrannies may be more painful than the physical attacks because they effectively undermine women's security and self-confidence. As briefly mentioned above, woman battering is often the result of the general view that a woman is subordinate to and the property of a husband or intimate partner. Other unequal structures in the family, such as law discriminatory with regard to ownership, marriage and divorce, place women in a position of dependence on a man and predict that she will fulfill certain roles.
Legislation regarding domestic violence is a modern phenomenon.
However, in certain countries, woman-battering is still not considered a crime and no legal sanctions exist against perpetrators. Furthermore, in other countries, domestic violence often used to be dealt with under the laws of criminal general assault, not sufficing to qualify as a crime in itself. Although in a handful of countries these laws are widely interpreted and well used to include domestic violence, they ignore the fact that the violence takes place between persons who are emotionally and financially involved with each other. Therefore, special laws have been subsequently drafted, with special remedies and procedures that meet the circumstances and special needs posed by violence between persons in the same household. Even in cases where countries have 'criminalized' woman-battering, very much still depends on the role and the power of the police.