This article explores the contribution of legislation to ending domestic violence through a study of women’s legal activism in South Africa. The struggle for domestic violence legislation mobilised women across divides of race, class and politics and strengthened women’s collective capacity to participate in the transition to democracy. However, the question remains as to whether the legal reforms achieved by women can address the power imbalances underlying violence against women. The author identifies two contrasting ways that women can use law to challenge gendered power relations: as a source of power over violent men, or to draw on entitlements formalised in law to increase their power to act in their own interests as women. She describes the dilemmas inherent in using the power of law to force a change in the behaviour of violent men, and argues that it is women’s legal activism that holds the potential for challenging gender relations by repositioning women as rights-bearers, individually and collectively.