The goal of this paper is to ascertain the source of the decline in intimate partner abuse from 1993 to 1998 cited in a recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. We find three significant factors in explaining the decline: (1) the increased provision of legal services for victims of intimate partner abuse, (2) improved educational and economic status for women, and (3) demographic trends including the aging of the population and an increase in racial diversity. Specifically, US women have become older, more educated, richer, and more likely to belong to a minority race. In addition, the provision of legal services has exploded in the past decade. All of these factors are significant determinants of abuse and are trending in the right direction to explain the reduced incidence of domestic violence in the US.