Statistics

Gender-based violence is a form of human-rights violation that is widespread worldwide, occurring to a greater or lesser degree in all societies and affecting women irrespective of income, education, class, race or ethnicity.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a global public health problem, termed the “shadow pandemic” by the United Nations in early 2020 while addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because the pandemic of GBV doesn’t just continue at times of crisis, but actually intensifies during and after crises. Sadly, GBV is one of the most common violations of human rights across all countries, impacting women and girls as well as non-binary or gender-nonconforming people in high proportions, with devastating effects on individuals and families as well as tremendous public health and social costs.

In this section, you’ll find some basic data on GBV in our context, as well as further information and resources that may be of use to survivors and their loved ones, or for advocates supporting survivors.

More than one out of three Canadians has experienced physical or sexual assault since the age of 15.

Visit Statistics Canada to learn more.

While specific definitions may vary in different parts of the world, people generally agree that:

Femicide is the intentional murder of women because they are women. Broader definitions can include any killings of women or girls.

For a more comprehensive definition of femicide visit the Canadian Femicide Observatory.

“Femicide is the killing of women, mainly by men, because they are women.”

2016

FEMICIDES COMMITTED
IN CANADA

Femicide rates at the hands of intimate partners are significantly high for victims classified as female. In 2016, Canada’s rate of femicide by an intimate partner was 3.7 per million population: this means that women are murdered by intimate partners at a rate greater than once a week.

Visit Statistics Canada to learn more.

2019

OUT OF 27 HOMICIDES IN THE REGION OF PEEL WERE A RESULT OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

In the Region of Peel in 2019, almost half of all murders were committed against victims classified as women, by perpetrators who were their intimate partners or family members.

Read full article: “Domestic Homicides in Peel Region”, Global News, 10 Dec. 2019.

2016

29.5%

OF YOUTH EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IDENTIFY AS 2SLGBTQ+

The intersectional impacts of bias and exclusion mean that particular groups are at heightened risk of facing under-housing or homelessness due to violence in the home. These include young 2SLGBTQ+ people who make up an estimated 29.5% of the homeless youth population.

Visit the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness to learn more.

UP TO

Indigenous women and women who are not permanent Canadian residents are significantly over-represented in shelters for survivors of violence; representation of these groups in shelters is five and six times higher than their proportion in the general population, respectively. This is due to the multiple barriers they must face beyond intimate partner violence. Such barriers for these groups (among others) include the complexity and intergenerational impacts of colonial histories and structural violence, and resulting relationships with policing, child welfare and legal systems that are contentious, leading to a high degree of fear and suspicion of these institutions.

Visit Statistics Canada to learn more.

Women with disabilities are four times more likely to experience violence than women without disabilities.

Young women experience the highest rates of sexual assault in Canada.

50%

OF WOMEN IN CANADA HAVE FELT PRESSURED TO CONSENT TO UNWANTED SEXUAL ACTIVITY

72%

OF CANADIANS DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND CONSENT

10%

OF WOMEN ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF VIOLENCE INSIDE THEIR HOME

Statistics

2016

2019

2016

UP TO

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