A random poll of about 2,000 women aged between 18 and 69 found about 9 per cent had experienced some form of violence in their lifetime – significantly lower than their counterparts in the Czech Republic, Australia and the Philippines.

The International Violence Against Women Survey, developed by global bodies including the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, was conducted here last year by the Society Against Family Violence (SAFV) and the National University of Singapore.

Of these, about half had been abused more than once. Also, almost 3 per cent of the women, in particular those aged between 30 and 39 and with tertiary education, had experienced episodes of violence in the past 12 months.

‘If you look at the population statistics, there are about 1.3 million women in this age group. So imagine 2.6 per cent of that works out to about 34,000 women… and this could be only the tip of the iceberg,’ said Associate Professor Chan Wing Cheong of NUS’ Faculty of Law yesterday, at a discussion involving over 20 social service professionals.