Attitudes to reducing violence towards women: punishment or prevention?

Aim: To investigate the attitudes of abused and nonabused women to reducing physical and sexual violence in the community.

Method: A random community sample of 3000 women was surveyed by postal questionnaire as part of the Otago Women's Health Survey. Seventy three percent (n = 1663) of those under 65 replied. As well as demographic, mental health and abuse information, responses to the question "what steps would you like to see taken to reduce the incidence of sexual and physical harm to women and children?" were analysed.

Results: Education was the most favoured approach to reducing violence in the community, followed by increased punishment of the offender. Women who had experienced sexual abuse, particularly as children, were more likely to advocate measures other than punishment. Rural women, those without formal qualifications and those who were not abused were more likely to advocate increased punishment, or made no comment.

Conclusion: The finding that victims of sexual assault were likely to report a preference for prevention over punishment highlights the importance of representing the views of the community which appear to be at variance with more extreme views publicized in the media.