The O.J. Simpson Trial Shifted the Conversation on Domestic Violence in America

The world seemed to stop on the morning of October 3, 1995, as all eyes were fixated on the verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, otherwise known as the “Trial of the Century.” Within four and a half hours, the sequestered jury decided on the fate of the NFL legend and media personality in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, on June 12, 1994.

Before 150 million television viewers, Simpson was acquitted on both counts, unleashing strong reactions, particularly along racial lines, with cameras showing black audiences in celebration and white audiences in mourning.

The Simpson trial was defined heavily by race, but what often gets overlooked is that the trial was one of the first significant moments in United States history that shed light on a usually taboo subject: domestic violence. After news of the murders broke, and following the infamous slow-speed Bronco chase that galvanized the nation, reports surfaced about the history of abuse Nicole suffered at the hands of O.J., beginning with the 911 call from her home on Gretna Green Way in October 1993.

That night, O.J. broke into Nicole’s home in a rage. Nicole told the 911 dispatcher that Simpson was “ranting and raving,” and despite the dispatcher’s insistence to stay on the call, Nicole replied, “I don’t want to stay on the line, he’s gonna beat the s--- out of me.”

But Nicole remained on the phone, and when the dispatcher asked if this had happened before, Nicole replied, “Many times.”

At one point, Nicole told O.J. that their children, Sydney and Justin, were sleeping. Throughout it all, Simpson could be heard screaming inaudibly.

Shortly after that call was released to the public, a domestic violence shelter in Los Angeles received an 80% spike in calls according to The Los Angeles Times. The city's 18 other shelters experienced a similar sensation, as well as higher attendance at support groups.

The first domestic violence shelter wasn’t established in America until 1974 amid the second wave of feminism that took up the cause of what became known as the “battered women’s movement.” Soon, marches, advocacy, programs and momentum began to build to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence. But it wasn’t until the Simpson case made domestic violence impossible to ignore that the taboo around the topic started to wane.

During the trial, Nicole’s sister, Denise Brown, gave a heart-wrenching testimony in which she described in vivid detail instances in which she witnessed Simpson abuse Nicole. One night at his Rockingham Estate, Denise said that Simpson, in a violent rage, had thrown Nicole out of his house and thrown pictures off the wall.

Reports also surfaced that, even after the Simpsons divorced in 1992, O.J. continually pursued Nicole as he followed her to different places, including at her home, where he admittedly witnessed Nicole in an intimate exchange with a date.

A few days before her murder, a worker at a shelter reported that she had gotten a call from a woman who went by “Nicole” and said that she feared her ex-husband.

In the midst of the trial, it Denise championed the cause of domestic violence awareness publicly. She testified before Congress in support of the Violence Against Women Act, which had been stalled since June.

In September, President Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act into law as part of the comprehensive Crime Bill. It was a landmark piece of legislation that turned domestic violence and sexual assault into federal crimes. It also provides funding to victim services and prevention programs, improving the criminal justice system’s response to such crimes, and providing tools to hold perpetrators and batterers accountable.

In April 1995, Denise was front and center at a national March on Washington for women’s rights, in which violence against women was an integral part of the platform. It was there that she decorated a white T-shirt in honor of Nicole and placed it on the Clothesline Project.

Throughout the trial, advocates such as Smith were given a larger platform to speak on domestic violence.

“I personally believe the verdict may have been related to a lack of focus by the prosecution on educating the jury about the connection between domestic violence and serious injury or murder” domestic violence prevention advocate Rita Smith tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “The media attention was massive. It got so much news attention for a prolonged period of time that advocates were able to consistently raise the general public's understanding of what domestic violence is and how it impacts victims. I talked to reporters from all over the United States, as well as German and Japanese television.”

In the years since the trial of O.J., who died from cancer in 2024, the #MeToo movement, greater visibility and awareness and more legal protections have addressed domestic violence. Reauthorizations of VAWA in 2013 and 2022 expanded protections to LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, immigrants, Native Americans, etc. Still, domestic violence remains a significant problem in the United States. The U.S. government reported in 2024 that domestic violence rates dropped by 67% and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults declined by 56%.

Still, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, one in four women and one in seven men experience severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Younger adults, particularly younger women between 18 and 24, are most likely to be victimized. Additionally, domestic violence continues to be underreported.

“We still struggle with getting the public to understand how dangerous abusers are, not only to their primary victims, but to the community at large,” Smith says. “It is critical that the public understand that when people are not safe at home, it means that danger will impact all of us.”

Smith also believes Americans “continue to make excuses for more influential or talented people for the violence they commit.”

“Nicole and Ron may very well not have died had O.J. been a regular person,” she continues. “Law enforcement would have responded much differently to the repeated calls Nicole made if he had not been famous or well-known.”

Today, Denise and her sister, Tonya Brown, continue to advocate for victims and survivors of domestic violence. In 1994, Denise started the Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation, and in 2015, Tonya wrote a book, The Seven Characters of Abuse: Domestic Violence: Where It Starts & Where It Can End?

Smith hopes that ongoing education can help mitigate situations like Nicole and Ron’s in the future: “We continue to provide training to law enforcement to improve their response to domestic violence calls, to reduce the chance that another tragedy like that one can be prevented.”