Almost one in 10 Alberta men believes hitting a woman is okay if she makes them angry, says a recent poll.

The Leger Marketing survey also found 40 per cent of the men say women who dress provocatively risk being raped

“This is first study of its kind that has been done in Alberta and I believe in the rest of the country,” Ian Large, vice-president for the Alberta branch of Leger Marketing, said told the Star Wednesday.

“Alberta has a particularly bad reputation in this area,” he said, adding that the 1,000 men surveyed were remarkably honest.

According to a report released by Statistics Canada in 2011, Alberta and Saskatchewan have the highest rates of spousal abuse in the country.

Those taken aback by the “ground-breaking” results include Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who says she was sickened by some of the findings.

Redford said the statistic showing that 21 per cent of men surveyed said slapping a child’s face is acceptable behaviour “made me sick to my stomach.”

“I think that is very troubling, and as a mother of a 9-year-old, I want us to do better as a community,” she said. “We have to start saying to people that this behaviour is inappropriate . . . It’s not acceptable in Alberta in 2012.”

Redford said the “silent majority” has a role in ensuring this kind of behaviour is not tolerated and that families feel safe in their own homes.

The Leger survey results were released Monday in Calgary at the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) annual “Breakfast With the Guys” fundraiser, designed to encourage men and boys to take a stand against domestic violence.

The survey was completed between Feb. 6 and Feb. 27, with 1,000 men, 18 or older, living in Alberta. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Among the alarming results:

• 13 per cent of the survey respondents said domestic violence is not as serious if it results from people getting so angry they temporarily lose control.

• 8 per cent did not agree that it’s never acceptable to physically assault a woman if she did something to incite the anger.

• 14 per cent agreed that women often say “no” when they mean “yes.”

Jan Reimer, provincial coordinator for the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, told reporters she has “mixed emotions” about the survey results.

Reimer said some of the responses are cause for optimism, citing the fact that 56 per cent of men say they are more aware of domestic violence issues than they were five years ago, and 91 per cent say they would intervene if they knew someone in a violent relationship.

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However, Reimer found it troubling that despite the changing views, 9 per cent still said they’d physically assault a woman if she had sex with another man.

Reimer said the information gleaned from the survey will be useful to those who work in the field of domestic violence response and prevention, helping them to target their message and design programs.

“This is where we’re at,” she said. “We’ve got a realistic appraisal here, so now let’s take what we know and see how we can make a difference to make things better.”

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