They had signed up for the event organised by Unifem (United Nations Development Fund for Women) Singapore to raise awareness of violence against women.

It is a first for the organiser, which wanted an occasion to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, declared as Nov25 by the UN.

The walk ended with a candlelight vigil at Unifem's office in Nassim Road.

While official figures in Singapore suggest that such violence has fallen in the last decade, social workers said these do not necessarily paint an accurate picture.

Statistics from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports show that the number of people who sought help in public hospitals fell from 537 in 2000 to 297 in 2005.

The number of reported cases of spousal abuse - the most widespread form of violence against women - dropped from 2,027 to 1,080 in the same period.

'This could just be the tip of the iceberg. There are lots more who don't report,' said Mrs Seah Kheng Yeow, head of family development at the Centre For Promoting Alternatives To Violence.

It handled 800 cases last year, 500 of which were new ones. Nearly 80 per cent of cases of violence it sees are those of spousal abuse. The rest include date violence and the abuse of siblings, children or the elderly.

At the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), family violence accounts for the second- highest number of hotline calls.

While the profile of victims cuts across all economic strata, social workers said date violence and spousal abuse directed at foreigners are also causes for concern.

The latter, especially, are a marginalised, under-resourced group. Most do not have social-support networks here, are unfamiliar with local laws or may have an inherent distrust of services available, especially if they come from countries where corruption is rampant.

Despite amendments to the Women's Charter in 1997 to improve legal protection for women, there still remain gaps when it comes to delivery, said Mr Benny Bong, president of the Society Against Family Violence (SAFV), a volunteer group.

A study completed by SAFV in April, which took stock of domestic abuse from 1997 to last year, singled out a few areas for improvement. In some countries, the police have the power to issue a protection order at the scene of the crime, noted the report, but the police here do not seem to take immediate action to protect a victim unless there is a serious threat.

But social workers said the biggest challenge they face is changing mindsets. 'There is still this belief that, if we take it outside the family, it's disloyalty,' said Mr Bong, who recently published a book, Couples In Crisis.

Aware's manager of direct services, Ms Kerry Wilcock, agrees.

'When you report a case of abuse, you're trying to save the family rather than break it up. It was already broken,' she said.