The basic purpose of this study was to perform a review of the medical, psychological, psychiatric, and sociological literature on wife battering. The article provides a critical analysis of the preventive measures adopted by countries with high human development indices, like Canada and France, based on the efficacy of such measures. It compares this application with that currently being conducted in Brazil. The methodology involved a search of the pertinent literature, especially from the last ten years, from such countries as England, the United States, Canada and France. These countries have the world's best organized services to aid women who have suffered domestic violence and their aggressors. They are also the countries with the most publications on this specific issue. Several Brazilian articles were chosen to situate the issue within our context. Preventive measures like expanding telephone hot lines, organizing shelters for emergency situations, reducing social tolerance of violent acts, increasing penalties, and providing legal aid and treatment for the parties involved are quoted in numerous studies approaching prevention of wife battering.
Violence; Spouses; Women; Family