Domestic violence refers to physical harm inflicted on one member of a household or family or by another member of the same household or family and this usually happens between spouses.

Examples of domestic violence include sexual abuse, which includes marital rape, forced prostitution, unprotected sex and sodomy, using pornography or baseless accusations of infidelity, verbal abuse, psychological, and social abuse by scandalizing and isolating the victim in the society.

Though women are the easiest victims of domestic violence, statistics show that men are also prone to violence at home. In fact, it transcends all racial and sexual barriers; statistics show that black females experienced domestic violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races. Black males experienced domestic violence at a rate about 62% higher than that of white males and about 22 times the rate of men of other races. Still, the most vulnerable are separated or divorced women. Children also are not spared and often exposed to the trauma of domestic violence. Teenagers also fall prey to this menace and studies reveal that one third of high school and college relationships end in violence, including date rape.

At present, all fifty states have protective laws for victims of physical violence. The Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994 provides for abused spouses and children to petition for permanent residency. Another law called Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, passed in 1996, made conviction of stalking or domestic violence grounds for deportation. It is now possible for immigrant women to apply for permanent residency separate from their husbands, if they have been victims of domestic violence.