What is gender-based violence?

Police Reported Data (2019):

• In Canada in 2019, of the 107,810 people aged 15 and over who experienced IPV (intimate partner violence), 79% were women. ^{Footnote 6}
• As in previous years, 2019 rates of IPV were more than 3.5 times higher among women than among men (536 versus 149 per 100,000 population).^{Footnote 6}
• Between 2014 and 2019, there were 497 victims of intimate partner homicide, and—similar to IPV in general—80% (400 victims) were women.^{Footnote 6}

Self-Reported Data (2018):

• Women were significantly more likely than men to have experienced any form of IPV, including physical abuse (23% versus 17%, respectively), sexual abuse (44% versus 36%), and psychological abuse (43% versus 35%).^{Footnote 2}
• Women, relative to men, were considerably more likely to have experienced the most severe forms of IPV in their lifetime (since the age of 15), including: being made to perform sex acts they did not want to perform (8% versus 1%), being confined or locked in a room or other space (3% versus 0.5%), being forced to have sex (10% versus 2%), being choked (7% versus 1%), and having harm or threats of harm directed towards their pets (4% versus 0.8%).^{Footnote 2}
• Among people who experienced IPV in their lifetime (since the age of 15), women are about four times more likely than men (37% versus 9%, respectively) to have ever been afraid of a partner. 55% of women who experienced physical or sexual IPV feared a partner at some point. Being afraid of a partner can indicate intimate partner violence that is more coercive, more severe, and more likely to reflect a pattern of abusive behaviours.^{Footnote 2}
• Women with a history of physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15 were about twice as likely as women with no such history to have experienced IPV either since age 15 (67% versus 35%) or in the past 12 months (18% versus 10%).^{Footnote 2}
• Among people who experienced IPV in the past 12 months preceding the survey, women were twice as likely as men to have experienced at least one form of IPV on a daily or almost daily basis (12% versus 6%, respectively).^{Footnote 2}
• Women are also more likely than men to experience sexual assaults. Self-reported data collected in 2018 in Canada shows that 33% of women were sexually assaulted at some point since the age of 15 – more than three times the proportion among men (9%). Both sexual assaults perpetrated by an intimate partner (12% versus 2%) and those perpetrated by someone else than an intimate partner (30% versus 8%) were significantly higher among women than men.^{Footnote 2}
• Women living in Canada are almost four times more likely than men to have been sexually assaulted at least once since age 15 (30% versus 8% respectively).^{Footnote 11}
• About one in three women living in the provinces (32%) and women living in the territories (35%) experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey. Significantly less men experienced the same in both the provinces (13%) and the territories (16%). Women were also more likely than men to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in the workplace (29% versus 17% in the provinces and 31% versus 16% in the territories) in the same time period.^{Footnote 12Footnote 13}
• Women were more likely than men to have experienced online harassment in the 12 months prior to the survey (18% versus 14% in the provinces^{Footnote 12} and 24% versus 16% in the territories).^{Footnote 13} Women are also more likely than men to have taken steps during that same time period to protect themselves from online harassment (28% versus 19% in the provinces^{Footnote 12} and 32% versus 22% in the territories).^{Footnote 13}

Police Reported Data (2019)

• Consistent with previous years, rates of family violence against children and youth were significantly higher among girls than boys (379 versus 239 victims per 100,000 population) in 2019.^{Footnote 14}
• As observed in previous years, rates of sexual offences perpetrated by a family member were more than four times higher among girls than boys in 2019 (170 versus 37 victims per 100,000 population) while rates of physical assaults were about the same between girls and boys (167 versus 171 victims per 100,000 population).^{Footnote 14}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• Young women aged 15 to 24 were five times more likely than women aged 25 years and older to have been sexually assaulted (5% versus 1% respectively), three times more likely to have been physically assaulted (6% and 2%, respectively), and almost three times more likely to have been emotionally, financially or psychologically abused by an intimate partner in the previous 12 months (28% versus 10%).^{Footnote 15}
• More than one in ten (12%) women aged 15 to 24 from the provinces were sexually assaulted in the year preceding the survey, which was significantly more than among women of any other age group.^{Footnote 12A}
• More than six in ten (61%) women aged 15 to 24 from the provinces experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey, which was significantly higher than among women of any other age group.^{Footnote 12B}

Police-Reported Data (2018)

• Indigenous women are overrepresented as victims of intimate partner homicides in Canada. While Indigenous women account for about 5% of all women in Canada, they accounted for 21%^{Footnote 16} of all women killed by an intimate partner between 2014 and 2019. In 2020, 53 women, 11 of whom were Indigenous, were killed by their partner in Canada.^{Footnote 17}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• In the 12 months preceding the survey, 1 in 6 (17%) Indigenous women experienced at least one form of IPV—psychological, physical or sexual—compared with 12% of non-Indigenous women.^{Footnote 3}
• In Canada, self-reported data collected in 2018 indicates that Indigenous women were more likely than non-Indigenous women to have been sexually assaulted at least once since age 15 (43% versus 30%, respectively).^{Footnote 11}
• In Canada, more than four in ten (43%) Indigenous women have been sexually assaulted at least one since the age of 15, including 45% of First Nations women, 44% of Métis women and 26% of Inuit women. In comparison, about 30% of non-Indigenous women in Canada reported experiencing sexual assault since the age of 15. Among Indigenous men, 12% experienced a sexual assault at some point since the age of 15, including 9% of First Nations men, 16% of Métis men, and 8% of Inuit men –this compared with 8% of non-Indigenous men.^{Footnote 11}
• First Nations women (40%) and Métis women (40%) living in the provinces were significantly more likely than non-Indigenous women (32%) to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 12} In contrast, the situation is slightly different in the territories. Overall, 29% of Indigenous women in the territories were the target of at least one inappropriate sexual behaviour in a public space in 2018. The corresponding proportion among non-Indigenous women was 41%.^{Footnote 13}
• First Nations women (34%) and Métis women (30%) living in the provinces were significantly more likely than non-Indigenous women (18%) to have experienced online harassment in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 12} In the territories, Métis women (36%) were significantly more likely than non-Indigenous women (21%) to have experienced online harassment in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 13}
• Among people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or of a sexual orientation that is not heterosexual (LGB+), Indigenous people were more likely than those who are non-Indigenous to have ever experienced a physical assault (73% versus 45%) or a sexual assault (65% versus 37%) since the age of 15.^{Footnote 5}
• Among LGB+ people, those who are Indigenous were more likely than those who are non-Indigenous to have experienced online harassment in the year preceding the survey (62% versus 35%, respectively).^{Footnote 5}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• An estimated 1 million people living in Canada are lesbian, gay, bisexual or of a sexual orientation that is not heterosexual (LGB+)—representing 4% of the population of Canada 15 years of age and older.^{Footnote 5}
• Almost half (49%) of LGB+ women indicated that they had been physically or sexually assaulted by an intimate partner since age 15, almost double what was indicated by heterosexual women (25%). ^{Footnote 4}
• One in five (20%) LGB+ women had indicated that they had experienced some form of IPV within the past year, almost twice what was said by heterosexual women (12%). ^{Footnote 4}
• One in two (50%) LGB+ women and one in four (26%) LGB+ men in Canada were sexually assaulted since age 15 – significantly more than among heterosexual women (30%) and men (8%).^{Footnote 5A}
• About one in two LGB+ women (45%) and LGB+ men (47%) were physically assaulted since age 15, significantly more than among heterosexual women (26%) and men (33%).^{Footnote 5A}
• 69% of LGB+ women and 41% of LGB+ men had experienced inappropriate sexual behaviours in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey – significantly more than among heterosexual women (31%) and men (12%).^{Footnote 5}
• Four in ten (40%) LGB+ women and three in ten (32%) LGB+ men experienced online harassment in the 12 months preceding the survey–more than twice the proportion of heterosexual women (18%) and men (13%).^{Footnote 5}
• 49% of LGB+ women and 35% LGB+ men experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in the workplace in the year preceding the survey – significantly more than among heterosexual women (28%) and men (16%).^{Footnote 5}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• Approximately 75,000 people living in Canada are transgender or gender diverse, representing 0.24% of the Canadian population aged 15 and older^{Footnote 5}
• In the year preceding the survey, transgender and gender diverse people in Canada were more than twice as likely as cisgender people to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in public places that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable (58% versus 23%, respectively) and in the workplace (69% versus 23%).^{Footnote 5}
• Transgender and gender diverse people were more likely than cisgender people to have experienced online harassment in the year preceding the survey (42% versus 16%).^{Footnote 5}

Police Reported Data

• Data from 2017 shows that rates of sexual assault perpetrated against women aged 25 to 89 years were more than twice as high in Canada’s provincial and territorial North than in the South (131 versus 57 victims per 100,000 population, respectively) (Police reported data – 2017).^{Footnote 17}
• 2017 data shows that rates of sexual assaults against girls and young women aged 24 years of age or younger were more than twice as high in Canada’s provincial and territorial North than in the South (500 versus 247 victims per 100,000 population, respectively) (Police reported data – 2017).^{Footnote 18}
• Rates of family violence against seniors in the provinces were higher in rural areas than urban areas for both senior women (107 versus 70 victims per 100,000 population) and men (89 versus 58) (Police reported data – 2019).^{Footnote 10}

Self-Reported Data

• In 2018, women living in the territories were twice as likely as men to have been the target of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace in the 12 months preceding the survey (31% and 16%, respectively).^{Footnote 13}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• In the 12 months preceding the survey, 16% of women with disabilities experienced some form of IPV, compared to 10% of women without disabilities.^{Footnote 7}
• Among LGBTQ2 women with disabilities, almost seven in ten (71%) experienced some form of IPV since the age of 15.^{Footnote 7}
• In Canada, women living with a disability were significantly more likely than women without a disability to have been sexually assaulted since the age of 15 (39% versus 24%, respectively).^{Footnote 11}
• In the 12 months preceding the survey, women living with a disability were significantly more likely than women without a disability to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable, both in the provinces (39% versus 27%, respectively) and in the territories (45% versus 28%).^{Footnote 12 Footnote 13}
• Women living with a disability were more likely than women without a disability to have experienced online harassment in the 12 months preceding the survey both in the provinces (27% versus 13%, respectively) and in the territories (35% versus 16%).^{Footnote 12 Footnote 13}
• 39% of women living with a disability in the territories experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace in the year preceding the survey, compared with 25% of women without a disability.^{Footnote 13}
• Among people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or of a sexual orientation that is not heterosexual (LGB+), those living with a disability were more likely to report that they had been physically assaulted (55%) or sexually assaulted (46%) since age 15 than LGB+ people who did not have a disability (36% and 29%, respectively).^{Footnote 5}
• LGB+ people living with a disability (67%) were more likely than LGB+ people without a disability (44%) to have experienced an unwanted sexual behaviour in a public place that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 5}
• LGB+ people living with a disability were more likely than LGB+ people without a disability to have experienced online harassment in the year preceding the survey (46% versus 25%).^{Footnote 5}

Self-Reported Data (2019)

• One in ten (11%) women students living in the provinces experienced a sexual assault in a postsecondary setting in the year preceding the survey – more than twice the proportion of men students who experienced the same (4%).^{Footnote 8}
• Students who are LGB+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or of a sexual orientation that is not heterosexual), students living with a disability, and students who sometimes wear a visible religious symbol living in the provinces were significantly more likely to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours. They were also significantly more likely to have been sexually assaulted in the postsecondary setting in the year preceding the survey.Footnote8
• 45% of women students and 32% men students in the provinces personally experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place in the context of their postsecondary studies in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 8}
• One in ten (10%) Indigenous women students in the provinces experienced a sexual assault in the postsecondary setting in the year preceding the survey – a proportion that was not significantly different than among non-Indigenous women students (8%). Notably, Indigenous men students were more than twice as likely as non-Indigenous men students to have been sexually assaulted during that same time period (9% versus 4%, respectively). Further, sexual assault was as common among Indigenous women and men students – a marked contrast to what was seen among non-Indigenous students where women were considerably more likely to have been sexually assaulted.^{Footnote 8}
• One in five (20%) women students and almost one in eight (13%) men students living in the provinces stated that they personally experienced discrimination based on their actual or perceived gender, gender identity or sexual orientation in the context of their postsecondary studies in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 19}
• LGB+ students, transgender and gender diverse students, students who are living with a disability, and students who sometimes wear a visible religious symbol living in the provinces were significantly more likely to have experienced discrimination based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation in the postsecondary context in the year preceding the survey.^{Footnote 19}
• Among postsecondary students living in the provinces, 10% of racialized women students were sexually assaulted in the postsecondary context in the year preceding the survey, more than among racialized men (4%) but slightly less than for women who are not racialized (11%)^{Footnote 8}

Self-Reported Data (2018)

• Visible minority women and non-visible minority women were equally likely to have experienced intimate partner violence in the form of physical abuse (both 2%) or sexual abuse (both 1%) in the past 12 months.^{Footnote 9}
• One-quarter (25%) of visible minority women between the ages of 15 and 24 experienced IPV in the 12 months preceding the survey. Among visible minority women, the proportion of those who experienced IPV was more than twice as high among those aged 15 to 24 than any other age group.^{Footnote 9}
• In Canada, 19% of women who are visible minorities living in the provinces were sexually assaulted since age 15, significantly less than for women who are not visible minorities (33%).^{Footnote 11}
• Women who are visible minorities living in the provinces were slightly more likely than women who are not visible minorities to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in public that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the year preceding the survey (35% versus 31%, respectively).^{Footnote 12}

Police Reported Data 

• When compared with senior men, senior women are considerably more likely to be victimized by a family member. Among all senior victims of violent crimes, 41% of senior women were victimized by a family member compared with 25% of senior men (Police Reported Data – 2019).^{Footnote 10}
• Between 2008 and 2018, a total of 198 seniors were killed by a family member, women accounting for 62% (123 victims) of all senior victims of family-related homicide (Police-reported data – 2018).^{Footnote 20}