Domestic violence, a taboo subject in Caucasian culture, is deeply embedded in traditions of family privacy and autonomy. As it is a matter of private concern, the culture does not permit the society at large either to discuss or adjudicate violence within the family. It differs from other forms of violence in that it occurs in an enclosed space.

Historically, family autonomy evolved as an institution for survival and protection. In Caucasian culture the family consists of the immediate nuclear family and a wide circle of relatives. But acquaintances ma…