RULE OF THUMB offers help for women in the grip of spouse abuse. This twenty-five minute program provides insights into the complex phenomenon known as "domestic violence".

The new 'rule of thumb' shows that spouse abuse is no longer a private affair — the law now treats it as a criminal matter.

In this delicate, evocative documentary, five abused women reveal to one another their own ambivalence and the victory each felt when they reached out for help and escaped their abusive husbands.

The women describe their emotional traumas, and concrete information is offered about how victims can access the Order of Protection, a law which is finally on a woman's side in making spouse abuse a crime. The women's first-hand stories are sensitively blended with candid insights from a formerly abusive husband, and from criminal justice professionals helping to challenge the traditional cycles of violence.

Rule of Thumb invites viewers from all segments of society: men and women, young and elderly, professional and struggling, to realize that the idea of "domestic" violence can no longer be treated as a private, family affair - instead it must be understood as a criminal affair.