Violence against women survey:

Summary of main findings



National surve

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) together with DRA Development recently completed a nationwide survey on various forms of abuse committed against women. The aim of the survey was to understand women’s experiences of violence, and to determine their perception of services rendered by the state to female victims of violence. The survey focused on women’s experiences of physical, emotional, economic and sexual abuse over the five year period preceding the survey.

The survey covered all nine provinces and included women living in metro, peri-urban and rural areas. Some 1000 women were interviewed by social workers, psychologists and lay counsellors.

Main findings

Women, irrespective of where they live, reported similar experiences of abuse confirming that abuse is about the nature of society and the roles and attitudes that prevail about women.

Service provision for abused women does however differ according to whether women live in rural, urban or metro areas. When it comes to their experiences with the police, women in the metropolitan areas generally reported lower levels of satisfaction than abused women who sought the help of the police in rural areas or those living in townships and suburbs (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Experiences with the police

Overall virtually all (92%) women felt that the abuse they were subjected to constituted a crime. However, less than half (46%) of abused women reported their incident of abuse to the police. Reporting levels are especially low where the abuser is a partner, relative or colleague of the woman who has been abused (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Perceptions of whether abuse experienced is a crime and
whether this incident was reported to the police
according to who the perpetrator was

Most women surveyed spoke about their abuse to their family (60% of women who sought help after their most serious incident of abuse), followed by the police (47%), and counsellors (46%). Only 3%, or 17 out of 565 abused women, who sought help during the five year period preceding the survey ended up in court to testify against their abuser (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Who women sought help from after the most serious incident of abuse

Most abuse occurs in the home environment. Hence the study confirmed the belief that many women are generally most unsafe at home. Most perpetrators are the spouse or partner of the women who have been abused. Only in cases of sexual abuse was the perpetrator more likely to be a stranger.

According to the ISS/DRA Development survey, abused women reported that most commonly their perpetrators acted as if nothing had happened after the most serious incidents of abuse (Figure 4). This could imply that perpetrators do not interpret their actions as constituting acts of serious abuse and violence.

Figure 4 How the abuser bahaved after the most serious incident of abuse

Shahana Rasool
Institute for Security Studies