Wife battering has long been ignored because private force in relationships between private citizens has been considered out of bounds by official agencies, because husbands' use of force against wives is regarded as an implicit norm, and because women's endurance of abuse has worsened the situation. Furthermore, social work has proved unable to deal with the problems of wife and child abuse, and staffing of women's shelters with volunteers perpetuates the classic system of exploitation. Typical reasons for wife beating are excessive alcohol consumption, jealousy, fulfillment of aggressive drives, and expression of power (in contrast to subservience in outside relationships). Partners in abusive mariages tend to have learned their roles from their parents; the cultural norms are passed from generation to generation. In middle-class families, physical domination of women may be replaced by economic and psychological control. Wives generally endure mistreatment because they accept marriage as women's definitive work and power structure. They frequently feel shame and hope that they can change their husbands; sometimes they have a tendency to overindulge in masochism and martyristic self-sacrifice. Violence against women is thus a 'legitimate' expression of structural political power which will remain unchanged as long as women submit and as institutions ignore abuse. Shelter houses offer women the possibility of learning to organize their own lives and of developing their own abilities. The most successful shelters are found in England: they are autonomous, organized in regional groups, run by women who are salaried, with the help of house committees, and relaxed in structure and atmosphere. The German shelter houses in Berlin and Frankfurt follow the English model, although other smaller shelters are run by volunteers. The need for practical experience rather than theoretical training to qualify shelter house employment is emphasized. Notes and a 25-item bibliography are supplied.