In Venezuela, thousands of women are beaten, verbally abused and raped, or suffer other forms of domestic violence at the hands of their partners or former partners. The Venezuelan authorities introduced the 2007 Organic law on the right of women to a life free of violence. However, almost two years on, there is still a wide gap between the law’s promised objectives and its implementation in practice. One significant obstacle to delivering the promised protection is the desperate shortage of shelters for women experiencing domestic violence.
