I think I remember reading (maybe in the book WEIRD) that in Western societies, as the "rule of law" spread and as society became more individualistic overall, murders shifted from being between strangers or weak acquaintances (ie a dispute, a robbery, etc) to being intrafamily (ie killing a spouse, parent, etc). Ie 200 years ago, it was unheard of, but now most murders are like that. Abuse might be different, I coul…
That doesn't mean it didn't happen - I assume it happened more in the past and just almost never reported.