From my Family Law textbook:
[T]he link between women's inequality and violence was fundamental. The legal system's tolerance of violence against women underwrites women's inequality before the law. Women cannot be equal until the legal system responds effectively to violence and until women are treated as equals, violence against them will not be reduced. The experience of violence is in itself disempowering for women and impedes their access to legal services.
I only wish that more countries in the world (::ahem::America!::ahem::) realised this and took actions to change it.
