In South Africa, Segona is not unique. According to the Department of Justice, one of every four South African women is a victim of domestic violence. Even those statistics are questionable. Many women fail to report spousal abuse and those who do must convince police to take their claims seriously.

As the country moves toward its second multi-party elections in June, the silent suffering of battered women is not a campaign issue nor is it a major project for the current government. In the new South Africa, the fight for freedom may be over, but the struggle to protect women from abusive relationships has just begun.

"I think the government is aware of gender issues," said Liesl Gerntholtz, the legal head of a national commission on gender equity. "That's not something you can say about any of the previous governments, but ultimately I think it's (spousal abuse) always going to be an issue that falls through the cracks."

Gerntholtz's Commission on Gender Equality has found that even in Parliament, women legislators are faced with gender discrimination.

"Our research has indicated that women have found the experience of being in Parliament quite disempowering," said Gerntholtz, a former corporate lawyer who gave up her practice to join the push for women's rights.

"A lot of the struggles for equality have been located within Parliament itself in terms of having toilets for women, in terms of trying to sway Parliament not to start sitting at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and finish at 9 p.m. You know women with childcare responsibilities find that very problematic."

While women in Parliament struggle to obtain basic women's rights, black South Africa women in townships, rural areas and even in cities face domestic violence on a daily basis. At the Chiawela Clinic in Soweto, Dr. Shahid N. Malick estimates that at least 10 percent of the 240 patients seen each day are battered women. "I see between 60 and 70 patients a day of which 6 or 7 are definitely abused - even if they don't say it," said Malick.

Malick said he routinely treats women for broken arms and legs and facial injuries - all tell-tale signs of domestic violence that occur from being beaten with a whip or flogged with a sjambok, a traditional long wooden stick used for war. The worst case of spousal abuse he's witnessed was that of a former clerk at his clinic who had multiple face injuries, a fractured skull and bleeding from the nose and ears. Malick said the woman's mate left her at a railway station after beating her. She would have died if passersby had not noticed her clinic worker's badge and brought her in for treatment. "Actually, I couldn't recognize her," said Malick. "But, I've heard of worse cases."

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