Survey: Most Belarusians feel safe on the streets, in public places

The majority of Belarusians feel safe on the streets and in public places, Nikolai Sukhotsky, Deputy Director for Science and Innovations at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, said as he cited findings of a telephone poll in an interview with a BelTA correspondent.

The Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus conducted a telephone interview survey “Public opinion on issues of wide concern”. The poll was running from 8 to 22 February and covered 900 people.

Pollsters asked if respondents feel safe on the streets of their community.

The answers were the following: 66.6% of respondents answered “Yes, always”, 26.1% said “Yes, as a rule”, 3.9% responded “Usually not”, 2% said “No, never”, 1.4% of respondents found it difficult to answer.

The respondents were also asked if they feel safe in public places.

The answers were the following: 65% of respondents answered “Yes, always”, 26.6% said “Yes, as a rule”, 3.5% responded “Usually not”, 1,7% said “No, never”, 3,2% of respondents found it difficult to answer.

“These results suggest that we have a high level of public order in the country, which is due to the professional work of law enforcement, the absence of precedents or threats to health and property. I believe that willingness to abide by the law demonstrated by the majority of the population also plays an important role. Thus, the assessments of the level of safety at home, on the streets and in public places are pretty much the same. This suggests that the country has achieved an unprecedented level of national security, which gives people the feeling of safety in everyday life,” said Nikolai Sukhotsky.

“At the same time, there is always a small share of people who are wary of their safety due to their mental constitution, negative experience, a certain perception of negative news, and this does not necessarily have to do with our country. People can project all this onto themselves. You cannot change people's nature. There will always be people who will feel safer at home than in a public place, for example. This is their state of mind. Some people just feel uncomfortable in public places,” he added.

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