Shocking rape and assault statistics are publicised every year during the 16 Days of Activism campaign, but one powerful danger rarely makes the headlines: emotional abuse.
Thandi Radebe (not her real name) has been with her husband for the past 16 years. He has never hit her and cares for his children.
But he believes he is the man of the house and his wife needs to do as he says. Her opinion does not matter to him, even though both of them work.
"He is the kind of man who wants the world to believe that he is liberal and democratic. At work he is respected, but at home he is the boss and nobody challenges him," said Radebe.
She said she knew her husband was a womaniser who did not care what that did to her as a person.
"Your self-esteem becomes low because you don't understand what you are not doing that other women are doing. You want to be supported and held, but the one person whom you rely on just does not have the time," she said.
Radebe said she often had to hear: "You are nothing, you are useless, what kind of a woman and mother are you?"
"When you hear this over and over, you start believing that you are those things," she said.
She said she was a successful woman but was afraid to leave because she was worried about her children.
"They are very attached to their father and knowing how it feels not to have a father figure around, you never want your children to go through the same pain - and I still love him," she said.
Mbuyiselo Botha, general secretary of the Men's Forum, said men and women alike were guilty of emotional abuse and it sometimes led to men killing their wives and families.
"It goes unnoticed because there are no visible scars, but when a woman is emotionally abused, it can significantly translate to her children, because she becomes depressed and despondent, and unable to function."
Tiny Moloko, clinical manager for People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa) in Berea, Johannesburg, said women were also capable of this kind of abuse, but "normally they are retaliating to what is happening at home and cannot fight back physically".
She said the organisation dealt with between 20 and 30 cases a month of emotional abuse. Moloko said any form of abuse was always coupled with emotional abuse.
"When there is financial abuse or sexual abuse, it is always coupled with emotional abuse. Those negative comments are emotionally draining and many women suffer from depression, and other cases lead to suicide," she said.
"We encourage women not to retaliate by calling their partners names but to find help, because retaliating will not solve their problems," Moloko said.
Janne Dannerup, a psychologist, said men were feeling threatened by the empowerment of women, because their traditional roles were being challenged.
She said one way of addressing this was to promote gender equity.