The traditional belief in the sanctity of a man's home and his right to privacy so that he could control his wife and family by any means necessary is slowly evolving into the view that women have a right to be protected from abuse by their intimate partners. Most states now have a legal process through which a woman who has been the victim of domestic violence may obtain a remedy for her suffering. Either through domestic violence protection, or civil tort litigation. (McCue) .
Prior to the early 1970s, violence against women in the home was generally thought of as a private matter. Couples were left alone to solve their conflicts except in cases of very serious injury. The law was considered to be the last resort in the management of domestic violence, and arrest was only used occasionally as a temporary means of maintaining order. Today it is recognized that the divide between public and private violence is less distinct, and violence between intimates has become a more outstanding public policy topic than ever before. Domestic violence is now, in theory, recognized as 'real' crime, and the fact that it typically occurs in the home does not deflect from its standing as a criminal offence. (Buzawa).
From the standpoint that the police response to domestic violence was not punitive enough, some feminist critics have argued that it could be explained by the very wide discretion that police officers have when responding to calls from citizens. These .
critics have tended to assume that changes in operational rules, brought about by policy reform, would result in less discretion and, hence, in more arrests. In other words, they believed that police actions could be directed, and even controlled, by procedural rules aimed to encourage enforcement of the criminal law (Hoyle.).
There is a limited number of law enforcement; officers and other crimes are given .
higher priority. (McCue) Maybe that is why the domestic violence level has increased so.