The demographic profile of the participants in the research was as follows: • 68 per cent were from rural areas (32 per cent from urban areas). • 51 per cent were female (49 per cent were male). • 39 per cent were aged 18–30, 48 per cent aged 41–50, and 13 per cent aged 51 and above. • 21 per cent were single, 66 per cent married, 11 per cent widowed, and 2 per cent divorced. • 10 per cent had no formal education, 25 per cent had primary education only, 57 per cent had completed their education at secondary or high school level, and 8 per cent had progressed to and completed tertiary education. • 65 per cent were unemployed, 16 per cent were employed in the informal sector, 10 per cent in the private sector, 4 per cent in the civil service, 4 per cent were students, and 1 per cent could not be accounted for. The population from which the target sample was derived was 2 298 846 registered voters from the 84 constituencies. Security issues The environment for political research of this magnitude continues to be difficult in Zimbabwe, even more so when it deals with issues of institutionalized violence. In the course of the field research, several of the researchers were detained temporarily and interrogated by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The Forum and its Director were harassed throughout the period of research, and the Director was subsequently charged for, among other things, instructing Forum staff to administer the transitional justice questionnaire. The data-collection process took place over approximately two months while the security situation throughout Zimbabwe remained tenuous. The security concerns at times impacted on the investigators’ ability to: • plan interviews in advance; • select participants randomly in certain locations; • choose areas randomly in a constituency; • select interview locations freely. To forestall the security concerns, the research teams undertook thorough security assessments before they entered research areas. The teams largely depended on local support from the Forum’s member organizations with local presence and knowledge of the areas. As planned, most interviews could be conducted at the participants’ home. Despite these challenges, the researchers managed to collect the targeted amount of data. In addition to the statistical data, they were able to collect a large amount of impressionistic data on state brutality, torture, displacements, detentions, petitions, and cases seeking compensation in the courts which may have had an impact on the results of the survey. Ethical considerations Before they conducted this survey, the Forum and its staff were aware that a project of this nature could inadvertently harm the participants; therefore, the safety of the research communities 10 Transitional Justice Survey – A Report of the People’s Perceptions and Recommendations