I commend the OP for raising this thread, even though it is a very disturbing subject, if we are to be honest and take Jesus' words at face value. It is partly because of the divorce issue that I contend that no Christian body today lives 100% like the Early Church probably did. Now, my guess is that Jesus did not include spousal abuse as a valid reason for divorce, because back then and all the way through the 1700's and probably part of the 1800's, a wife was considered to be the property of her husband and it was no doubt thought of as permissible for a man to physically discipline his wife. If Jesus would have told the crowds that was wrong for a husband to hit a wife, they would have laughed at him and maybe even worse.