This report is a situational analysis on the scale, determinants, consequences and responses to violence against women (VAW) in South Africa. It finds that VAW is highly prevalent in the country. More than half of the women murdered in 2009 (56 per cent) were killed by an intimate partner. Overall, between 19 per cent and 33 per cent of women have ever experienced physical partner violence, but in some population subgroups it may be as high as one in two women.