Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse is a wide field of connected crimes based around the home, with relatives abusing one another in some fashion - normally it is associated with violence against women and children but men can also be victims of abuse in their own homes, as can same-sex couples.

Abusive relationships have been a major social sin in recent times due to a raised awareness of women's rights and child welfare as well as a decline in some cultures of the traditional "macho" male image that promoted some abuse (for example some societies believed hitting a woman was acceptable to keep her "in her place" and beating children was common until fairly recent history).

In many areas Domestic Abuse is now a criminal offence and abusers are often shunned by society due to the crime now having a social stigma (see above).