either Rape Crisis or the police. This data is extremely significant for a number of
reasons. Firstly, it is interesting that both groups select two services that are women only
and dedicated towards dealing specifically with domestic violence and sexual violence.
Secondly, these two services are identified by both groups as the ones they have least
access to. Therefore, whilst they are the most utilised for violence against women issues
they are the least accessible. It is also important to recognise that the police play a very
significant role in dealing with violence against women in both rural and urban areas.
The third question about services asked respondents to identify which services they think
should have a role to play in violence against women. Both groups identified the police
as the top service followed by woman’s refuge/safe house, and then social services.
This suggests that whilst women believe that the police and social services should be the
addressing violence against women, it is third sector services, Rape Crisis and women’s
refuges, which are doing so. Urban and rural areas women agree that there is a need for
generic services, such as the police and social services, but that there also needs to be
dedicated women only services.
Views about Violence Against Women
In order to ascertain what respondents felt about the reasons and causes for violence
against women we asked them a number of questions. The first question comprised a
list of 16 statements and respondents were asked to state whether they believed them to
be true or false. Unlike the questions above, in this section there was considerable
difference between the views of rural and urban women. Whilst there was some
convergence, for example, 80.9% rural and 82% urban women agree that ‘men who
commit violence against women should go to prison’, and 74.5% rural and 72.7% urban
women agree with the statement that ‘violence against women is not openly talked about
in their communities’, in most other cases there were marked differences in responses.
Table 6: Rural and urban women who agree with the following statements.
Rural % Urban %
One in four women experience domestic violence at 87.2 91.7
some point in their life
The media do not exaggerate the extent of violence 84.2 90.6
against women
Women are more likely to experience violence/abuse 53.6 45.3
when drinking alcohol
Women could do more to avoid being victims of 26.2 20.2
violence/abuse
The areas with some difference in opinion relate to perceptions about women’s
culpability and behaviour. 53.6% of rural women and 45.3% of urban women agreed
with the statement ‘Women are more likely to experience violence/abuse when drinking
alcohol’. This suggests that rural women are more likely to believe that on the basis of
their own behaviour, i.e. drinking alcohol, women are more likely to experience violence
McCarry & Williamson, 2009 16
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