Stopping The Violence

Fact Sheet: Violence Against Women

Across Canada

The Statistics Canada 1993 Violence Against Women Survey found that:

• One-half of all Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of violence since the age of 16.¹
• One in four Canadian women were victims of assault by a spouse or partner.²
• Four in ten Canadian women were victims of sexual assault.³

The Statistics Canada Homicide in Canada 2000 reported that:

• Women were the victims in three of four spousal murders.⁴

Here In B.C.

According to the Statistics Canada 1993 Violence Against Women Survey:

• Of all the provinces, the highest rate of violence was reported by women in B.C. (59%).⁵

Police and Crime Summary Statistics for B.C. in 2000 indicate that.⁶

• 10,121 incidents of spousal assault were reported.
• 78.2% of the accused were males.
• 12.9% of the accused were females.
• 8.9% of reports involved both spouses assaulting each other.

Young Women at Major Risk

Young single women represent the highest proportion of women who are dating and are at greatest risk to be victims of dating violence.

The Statistics Canada 1993 Violence Against Women Survey found that:

• 16% of all Canadian women (1.7 million) have been involved in at least one incident of sexual or physical assault by a date or boyfriend since the age of 16.⁷
• Half of all women who reported an incident of dating violence were between the ages of 18-34.⁸
• 24% of women 18 - 24 years had been sexually and/or physically assaulted by a date or boyfriend. This figure is 50 per cent higher than the national figure of 16 per cent.⁹
• For single women 25-34 years of age, most of whom have been dating for longer periods of time, the percentage ever assaulted by a date is 29%.¹⁰

In 1999, the McCreary Adolescent Health Survey II found that:¹¹

• 35% of girls and 16% of boys between grades 7 - 12 had been sexually and/or physically abused.
• Among girls surveyed, 17-year-olds experienced the highest rate of sexual abuse at 20%.

The Greatest Risk

Women are more at risk from a man they know than from a stranger. According to the Canadian Crime Statistics, 2000 report by Statistics Canada, male against female violence was the most common type of overall violence¹² but the least likely to involve a stranger.

• In 76.8% of reported cases, the women knew their assailant.¹³
• In 28.9% of the reports, the woman was assaulted by her spouse/ex-spouse.¹⁴

Percentage of Violent Crime by Gender

According to the Canadian Crime Statistics, 2000 report:¹⁵

Male on female violence accounted for the majority (46.5%) of all violent crime in Canada.

• 37.8% was attributed to male on male violence.
• Female on female crime - where women were both the accused and the victim - accounted for 8.1% of the total.
• Female on male violence accounted for the lowest percentage of all violent crime in Canada at 7.6%.

Sexual assault is a Criminal Code offence which occurs when any form of sexual activity is forced upon another person without that person's consent.¹⁶

Visit the Stopping The Violence page of our website at  for information about ministry programs and services to help women and children escaping violence.