Violence against women is legitimized by social norms, beliefs and institutions.

Decades of campaigning has led to signiicant changes and reform in the rape law.

Women experience disadvantage and oppression differentially, based on their status, context and location.

WOMEN's status, it has often been argued, is an indicator of the level of development of particular societies. Women's workforce participation rates, on the other hand, are also related to women's status.

The drive for a rapid development in the education of women came largely from a perception summed up aptly in .the following statement by Mayhew: "women