Department of Justice”1). This act of domestic abuse includes physical, mental, or psychological control over another person. Abuse refers to any criminal behavior that involves; assault, battery, sexual assault, stalking, harassment and murder. Domestic violence also has many names, partner abuse, spouse abuse, intimate partner violence, the list goes on, but the meaning is the same. Before the 1800s, domestic abuse was widely accepted and a valid approach to disciplining a wife. The laws of the time stated that "a husband may only whip his wife with a stick no larger than his thumb" ("Timeline of Domestic Violence."1). This practice continued until 1882, when Maryland passed a law making wife beating a crime “punishable by 20 lashes on the whip.” ("Timeline of Domestic Violence."1). The following illustration shows this act in 1899 ("The Whipping Post"). where a husband was sentenced to 20 lashes under this law. Other states soon followed suit, but with stipulations. North Carolina law states that "a criminal charge may not be brought against a husband unless the violence of the battery is so powerful as to cause permanent injury, endanger his life, or be injurious beyond reasonable limits" ("Domestic Violence