The question remains. Do you think that the Western upper middle class are being willfully blind to some sort of domestic violence epidemic happening all around them, the way you describe previous generations as acting? You're relating isolated anecdata, that tell us nothing about whether some behaviors might have been common in the past.
Yes, Western upper middle class were willfully blind to domestic violence around them. Just like Eastern upper middle class. Or like lower class, really. It is not even that difficult ... you just don't talk about it. It was not crime. Most of it happens at home when no third party is around. If you did not wanted to be blind to it, you could talk to the aggressor and that was about how much realistically could be done. Shelters were not a thing at the time.
Whether it qualified as "epidemic" I don't know.
Seriously, people of all classes were also willfully blind to sexual abuse for years and that includes abuse by priests.
> Seriously, people of all classes were also willfully blind to sexual abuse for years and that includes abuse by priests.
Not really. This was a big part of why people were so vicious during the Protestant Reformation. You don't just have people buried up to their necks and then trampled by horses because you disagree about points of scripture.
