The evidence which we have seen from this report on the Family Health & Safety Study challenges this conception. Two out of three women aged between 15 and 49 years have been abused and the stories about children being abused are unspeakable, yet violence against women and children has often been the subject of continuous denial and suppression by society. We continue

to harbour attitudes that do not conform with what we aspire to be. Society has been slow in condemning violence against women and child abuse as crimes and this is exacerbated by the

fact that violence against women is very much inherent in gender-based inequalities practised by our society. Whoever is in control shapes the destiny of others and in this equation, the most

vulnerable are our women and our children.