New research reveals the least safest province for women in SA

A survey of 6 596 South African women reveals the state of safety concerns for South African women, with 3 in 4 stating they feel unsafe.

Only 3.6% of South African women feel safe within the province they live in. Picture: iStock

To help ensure women are safe and protected across the country, 1st For Women conducted new research, which found that only 3.6% of South African women feel safe within the province they live in.

The insurance company asked 6 596 South African women about their perceptions of safety within their respective provinces.

The study combined these insights with data extracted from the 2023 South African Police Services’ crime statistics from January to September.

To provide a more accurate comparison of results, 1st For Women said the number of responses was divided by the overall number of survey respondents per province, and stats from the police report were calculated per 100 000 capita per province.

Each province was then ranked across 20 factors, giving each a normalised score out of 100 for each factor, before taking an average final score across all 20 metrics to give an overall ‘Safety Rating’.

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Women feeling unsafe in everyday situations

Among the 6 596 women surveyed, a significant number revealed feeling either ‘unsafe’ or ‘completely unsafe’ in various everyday situations within their province.

These situations include:

Walking alone at night (98%)
Driving alone (77%)
Going out with friends (63%)
Walking alone during the day (66%)
Being alone at home (54%).

61% of respondents revealed that they had already been a victim of a crime:

A house robbery or break-in (32%)
Cellphone theft (24%)
Handbag theft (13%)
Smash and grab (8%)
Gender-based violence (6%)
Hijacking (5%).

The least and safest provinces for women in South Africa

Of those surveyed, Limpopo had the lowest number of females who felt ‘unsafe’ or ‘completely unsafe’, as well as those who had been victims of a crime.

Head of 1st For Women Insurance, Seugnette van Wyngaard, explains that: “Western Cape has come bottom of the safety index (scoring 37.47) as it had the highest reported crimes per 100 000 capita for community-reported serious crimes, property-related crimes, and theft of, or from, a motor vehicle.

“However, despite reports of some crimes being high, this does not necessarily mean they are more frequent. The region has a well-established infrastructure for reporting crimes here and, as such, higher crime stats could be down to a more supportive reporting culture, which is actually a positive rather than a negative.”

Seugnette adds: “The index is a reflection of crimes which have been reported only, and women’s perceptions of safety within their provinces, so can only give us part of the bigger picture. We’ve used the data available to us to highlight the provinces which score safest to help females choose where to live, work, study, and, hopefully, feel more fearless here in South Africa.”