Statistics Canada Report on Multiple Victimization in Canada

Statistics Canada today released a report entitled Multiple Victimization in Canada, 2004.

According to the report, a large proportion of all victimization incidents are experienced by a relatively small number of victims who experienced multiple incidents.

Among the highlights:

• In 2004, persons who reported having been the victim of more than one violent crime during the past year represented 2% of the population, but had experienced 60% of all violent crimes.
• Among those Canadians who reported having been victims of a crime in the 12 months preceding the survey, 38% said they had been victimized more than once. Of those, half were victimized twice while the other half were victimized three or more times.
• In 2004, young people, Aboriginals, single people, those involved in a large number of evening activities and who consumed alcohol more often were proportionally more likely to have reported being a victim of more than one violent crime.
• People who rented their home, lived in urban areas and resided in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of single-parent families were more likely to be victims of a property crime more than once.

The report was based on the General Social Survey on Victimization.