This article draws on three Canadian research studies to question conventional understandings that access to adult literacy education is a simple matter of providing programs. In the face of women's experiences of violence, commonly overlooked barriers limit ''access.'' Different forms of violence, their frequency, and the prevalence of medicalizing discourses about violence are examined. Effects of violence on women's attempts to get to programs, complete courses they begin, and learn successfully, are introduced. Educators are challenged to design literacy programs that will support learning and create conditions to counteract the early ''training'' which tells women they cannot learn.