At least one in every 10 South Africans believe men have the right to physically attack their partners or wives.

This is according to an Ipsos poll, following face-to-face interviews with 3 600 people across the country earlier this year.

Ipsos examined opinions surrounding a woman’s place in marital relations and violence toward women.

More than six in 10 people believed a woman should obey her husband or partner, which Ipsos remarked illustrated a “deep-seated paternalism and conservative view in our society, seeing a woman as a possession rather than an individual in her own right”.

Slightly more women than men agreed with the statement, according to the findings.

Younger people were slightly less likely to agree. In the 15 to 17 age group, 51% agreed.

While the majority – 78% – did not agree that a husband had the right to physically attack his partner, levels of agreement that physical abuse was acceptable was still “alarmingly high”, Ipsos said.

Levels of disagreement were highest when subjects thought about themselves as individuals, but decreased when it came to their opinion of what the community thought.

The information was gathered between March 22 and April 17 following 3 600 interviews with randomly selected respondents.

– Compiled by Tammy Petersen