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Violence in the Family

A general reality for many women is violence in the family. Women are not protected by society or the community. Violence in the home is regarded as a “personal matter” and no one intervenes. Women, if organised, could help and support each other and raise objections to violence. Women themselves were sometimes violent towards members of their families, it was also acknowledged. Drunkenness on the part of the husband was a common feature of acts of violence against women. Women were attacked for “talking back” or beaten because of a husband's frustration with someone else - his boss or his brother, for example.