Witnesses reluctant—survey

Press, 23 October 1989, Page 3

Witnesses reluctant —survey

By

MARITA VANDENBERG

Witnesses of violent or abusive attacks on women and girls are unlikely to come to the aid of the victim, according to the results of a recent survey of more than 700 New Zealand women.

Witnesses choose not to help because the attacker is either a family member or friend or because they do not want to become involved and possibly get hurt, the survey revealed. The survey was of women aged 11 to 87 who had experienced some form of violence — ranging from apparently minor

incidents of sexual harassment and verbal abuse through to serious physical and sexual attacks.

The survey was conducted as background research into a self-defence book by a Wellington Positive Action self-defence tutor, Ms Mary Irwin. The researcher was Ms Deborah Cox, a co-founder of the Neighbourhood Support Group concept

The survey sought answers to questions about who the most likely attackers were, their attitudes and how much force they used.

The survey confirmed earlier

studies that reported pre-ado-lescent girls and young women being at greater risk than older women and that their own homes and members of their own families posed the greatest threats.

Incest was by far the situation with the greatest impact, ahead of rape and sexual abuse or attack, the survey found. On a positive note it also confirmed that women could not only successfully resist their attackers, but they also carried their most effective weapon with them all the time — their voices.

The survey found that pas-

sively accepting an attack was no guarantee of escaping physical injury. It also suggested that women who had experienced personal violence were now talking more openly to others about it and were more likely to report incidents to the police. It rated police attitude as having positively improved over the last two years.

A report on the findings of the survey is being published by the Mental Health Foundation. The survey findings will also appear in Ms Irwin’s book “Power in our Hands,” which is due to be published next year.