80% of Russians are afraid of being the victims of terrorist attack. Every third believes that terrorism cannot be defeated in Russia.
MOSCOW, February 11, 2011. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing whether Russians are afraid of being the victims of terrorist attacks, as well as what they propose to do to combat terrorist threat.
Today eight out of ten Russians are afraid to become a victim of terrorist attacks (80%). The same level of anxiety was recorded in April 2010 - right after the terrorist attacks took place in Moscow metro. However, the highest level of anxiety was expressed by only 31% versus 36% today (highest record). Those who are mostly concerned about the safety are women (44%), middle aged Russians (43%), metropolitan residents (52%). Only every tenth is confident in his/her security (10%); almost the same share of respondents did not think about that (9%).
One of the most effective ways to combat terrorism is toughening the migration legislation and control over the movement of migrants (6%). Five percent (for each group) mention the following measures: improving the work of special services, increasing the level of competence among their workers, raising public vigilance, strengthening the protection of state borders, vital facilities and public places on the territory of Russia. Other 4% propose to strongly toughen the anti-terrorism legislation up to introducing death penalty. Eradication of corruption in enforcement bodies was proposed by 3% of Russians. To compare, the most effective measures proposed by respondents after Moscow metro terrorist attack in April 2010 were introduction of death penalty and toughening the legislation (7%). Nevertheless, one-third of Russians (35%) still believe that terrorism in Russia cannot be defeated.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on 5-6 February, 2011. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Are you afraid that you or a member of your family can become a victim of terrorist attack? | |||||||
| 2001 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | April 2010 | September 2010 | February 2011 |
Somewhat afraid | 52 | 52 | 54 | 44 | 51 | 49 | 44 |
Afraid a lot | 26 | 25 | 17 | 17 | 31 | 27 | 36 |
I am confident that nothing will happen to me or my relatives | 12 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 10 |
I did not think about that | 8 | 13 | 16 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
Hard to tell | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
In your opinion, what should be done to gain a victory over terrorism in Russia? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | ||
| 2009 | 2011 |
Stricter control over migration process, over migrants living in Russia | 3 | 6 |
Improve the work of special services, increase competence of such workers | 5 | 5 |
Increase public vigilance | 4 | 5 |
Strengthen the protection of state borders, vital facilities, public places on Russian territory | 1 | 5 |
Toughen anti-terrorism legislation, introduce death penalty | 7 | 4 |
Eradicate corruption in enforcement bodies | 3 | 3 |
Set the order in the country | 2 | 2 |
Everyone has to fulfill his/her duties and comply with laws | 1 | 2 |
Raise new generation which would be intolerant to violence and terror | 1 | 2 |
Change the power and heads of bodies |
| 2 |
Total control in the country, strong leader | 1 | 2 |
Increase the living standards, eradicate poverty and unemployment | 4 | 1 |
Destroy all terrorists | 1 | 1 |
Other | 1 | 1 |
Eradicate ethnic hatred, intolerance | 1 | 1 |
Put more attention to solving this issue | 1 | 2 |
Act together; government, people and special services should be united against this threat | 2 | 1 |
Change policy | - | 1 |
Perform intelligence activities to locate terrorists, use preventive strikes against their bases | - | 2 |
Use new equipment, introduce innovations | - | 1 |
Punish the relatives of terrorists | - | 1 |
Solve the problem peacefully, conduct negotiations | 1 | 1 |
Make terrorism non-profitable | 1 | - |
To combat terrorism using force only, toughen policy in Caucasus | 1 | - |
Increase salaries for workers employed in enforcement bodies | 1 | - |
Terrorism cannot be destroyed in Russia | 34 | 35 |
Hard to tell | 30 | 23 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!