When did the battered women movement begin?

• A. Late 1960s
• B. 1950s
• C. 1980s
• D. 2000s

Answer: (A)

The battered women’s movement started as part of second-wave feminism in the late 1960s, when activists began to treat domestic violence as a public issue rather than a private family problem. This shift sparked organizing, advocacy, and the push for services and legal reforms, laying the groundwork for shelters and survivor support that emerged in the early 1970s. The other decades miss the moment when organized efforts first coalesced around recognizing violence in the home as a societal problem requiring action, rather than a private matter.