For a large part of the history of the United States, domestic abuse was tolerated under the nation's legal system. There were few laws criminalizing domestic violence, and enforcement of the existing laws was rare.
It was only in the past few decades that laws criminalizing domestic violence came to be widespread and enforced. But now, the U.S. is in danger of backtracking on that legal framework precisely because of the nation's historical legacy of turning a blind eye to domestic violence.
