Research on family violence in rural communities in Australia and Canada has shown that women's experience of family violence is shaped by social and cultural factors. Concern for economic security and inheritance for children, closeness and belonging, and values of family unity and traditional gender roles are factors in rural communities that form the social and cultural context in which health and wellbeing are embedded. The findings presented in this paper show that rural women often place their needs second to those of their partners, children and families and, as a result, may minimize their own health concerns, especially in situations that involve family violence. Rural health care workers need to recognize the way social and cultural contexts specifically impact on rural women in order to provide appropriate prevention and treatment programs to address rural women's health issues.