Any abusive, violent, coercive, forceful, or threatening act or word inflicted by one member of a family or household on another can constitute domestic violence. Domestic violence, once considered one of the most underreported crimes, became more widely recognized during the 1980s and 1990s.omestic violence. n. the continuing crime and problem of the physical beating of a wife, girlfriend or children, usually by the woman's male partner (although may be female violence against a male). It is now recognized as an anti-social mental illness.