ACOMA PUEBLO, N.M. — In a desperate attempt to make it to the front door, Robin Sanchez crawled across the living room floor. Her former husband, just out of jail and intoxicated, used a wooden slat from one of the kitchen chairs to beat her.

She recalls how she was about to open the door when a loud crack resonated across her head. Blood gushed down her face as she heard her 3-year-old daughter cry: ‘‘Daddy, don’t be mean to Mommy.’’