Statistics Canada Report on Sexual Orientation and Victimization

Statistics Canada released a study earlier today entitled Sexual orientation and victimization, 2004 that shows that gays, lesbians and bisexuals reported experiencing higher rates of violent victimization including sexual assault, robbery and physical assault, than did their heterosexual counterparts.

"Factors such as being young, being single, being a student, earning a low income, living in an urban area, and engaging in 30 or more evening activities per month have all been shown to be related to higher rates of victimization ... Results from the 2004 GSS indicate that some factors that increase the risk of violent victimization are more common amongst gays, lesbians and bisexuals."

"When all factors were held constant, being gay, lesbian or bisexual significantly increased the odds of being a victim of a violent crime. Compared to heterosexuals, the odds of being victimized were nearly 2 times greater for gays and lesbians and 4.5 times greater for bisexuals."