Prophet Muhammad approved a mass beating on the wives within the muslim community.
A pretty self-explanatory hadith.
It was narrated that Iyas bin 'Abdullah bin Abu Dhubab said:
"The Prophet said: 'Do not beat the female slaves of Allah.' Then 'Umar came to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the woman have become bold towards their husbands? So order the beating of them,' and they were beaten. Then many women went around to the family of Muhammad. The next day he said: 'Last night seventy women came to the family of Muhammad, each woman complaining about her husband. You will not find that those (men) are the best of you.' " (Ibn Majah 1985 / Sahih - Darussalam)
This hadith is an example of Muhammad's moral and leadership failure regarding domestic violence. He comes off as weak and reactive when under pressure by Umar and ultimately just caves into his demand. And then at the end of it, he issues a weak blame-shifting response. Just complete carelessness from the start and a lack of accountability on his part after the beatings.
He should've known how bad the beatings would be considering he is intimately aware of his men's violent inclinations. The way I see it, this was about appeasing his men because they are on the frontlines of war, invading, conquering, looting in his name (Allah’s name). Unfortunately, the women are on the back burner here.
As a reformer, Muhammad had every opportunity stand up to Umar and refuse the beating or to severely condemn the beatings or punish the abusers or offer systemic protections for women, but he didn't. He failed at every level, from beginning to end. He isn't a timeless perfect example for mankind, he's simply a product of a violent patriarchal society.