The fear of being robbed or assaulted is more pronounced among people aged 65 and over and in the Alentejo and Algarve regions, reveals a survey on “Crime and Insecurity” by the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV).
However, at national level, the Portuguese feel safer than they did five years ago, a situation to which the climate of “more optimism” in Portugal today has contributed, add data from APAV.
The survey on “Crime and Insecurity” was developed within the scope of the patronage partnership between APAV and Intercampus, resulting from the application of a questionnaire to the Portuguese population, aged 15 and over.
In 2012, a questionnaire on the same topic had been carried out, so now a comparison is presented to the results obtained at that time. “This survey includes the following themes: feeling of security in the residential area; feeling of security in personal terms; feeling of security regarding personal property; personal experience in the last 12 months.
The data released today, resulting from 600 interviews carried out between October 24 and November 11 with people aged 15 and over, residing in mainland Portugal, indicate “a tendency towards the expression of a lesser feeling of insecurity on the part of the sample, when compared with the results obtained in 2012”.
The survey reveals that only 10% of respondents consider the area where they live as dangerous or unsafe, against 19% in 2012. Of these, 55% say that this perception of insecurity is greater at night.
The “APAV Intercampus 2017 Barometer” also highlights the fact that more than 75% of the sample does not fear being robbed or attacked (58% in 2012). This number is higher in Algarve and Alentejo, especially among older people.
For the 22% who say they have this fear, this fear “is greater” in areas other than their home or work and “at night”.
The data also show that the number of respondents who fear their home will be burglarized from 52% to 34%. Ten percent fear being the target of insults, threats or aggression inside their home.
Among respondents with a car, 44% say they fear it could be the target of theft or damage (64% in 2012).
The study also notes a drop in the number of respondents who say they have been victims of assault, assault or other crime in the last 12 months (3% in 2017 against 5% in 2012).
This percentage rises to 18% when asked if they know someone who has been the victim of a robbery, assault or other crime in the last 12 months.
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