Statistics Canada Report on Family Violence

Statistics Canada released a report this week called Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2014:

"Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile is an annual report produced by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics under the Federal Family Violence Initiative. Since 1998, this annual report has provided the most current data on the nature and extent of family violence in Canada, as well as trends over time, and has been used to monitor changes that inform policy makers and the public (...)"

"This year’s report also features an in-depth analysis of self-reported incidents of spousal violence, using data from the 2014 General Social Survey on victimization. This featured section examines the nature and prevalence of self-reported spousal violence in Canada. The analysis examines rates of spousal violence from 2004 to 2014, and because the information provided in this section is collected from individuals (self-reported), it includes incidents that were reported to police as well as those that were not. The featured section also provides analysis of the socio-demographic risk factors linked to spousal violence, the impacts and consequences for victims and the police reporting behaviour of victims."

Among the highlights:

• In 2014, 4% of Canadians in the provinces with a current or former spouse or common-law partner reported having been physically or sexually abused by their spouse during the preceding 5 years, according to the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization. This represents a drop from a decade earlier, when 7% of respondents reported experiencing spousal violence.
• In 2014, equal proportions of men and women reported being victims of spousal violence during the preceding 5 years (4%, respectively). This translated into about 342,000 women and 418,000 men across the provinces. Similar declines in spousal violence were recorded for both sexes since 2004.
• According to the 2014 GSS, the most commonly-reported type of spousal violence experienced was being pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped (35%). A quarter of victims (25%) reported having been sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or threatened with a gun or a knife. A similar proportion (24%) reported having been kicked, bit, hit, or hit with something. As in previous years, women reported the most severe types of spousal violence more often than men.
• Among victims of spousal sexual assault, over half (59%) reported non-consensual sexual activity that came as a result of being manipulated, drugged, or otherwise coerced, sometimes in combination with sexual assault through physical force.
• Just under one-third (31%) of spousal violence victims in the provinces reported sustaining physical injuries as a result of the violence. Women were proportionally more likely than men to have reported physical injuries, with 4 out of 10 (40%) female victims reporting injuries compared to just under a quarter (24%) of male victims.
• Results from the 2014 GSS indicate that psychological effects consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are fairly common among spousal violence victims, with about 16% of victims reporting three or more of the long term effects associated with PTSD. Female victims were more likely (22%) to report these effects than male victims (9^%).
• For the majority of spousal violence victims, the police were never made aware of the abuse (70%). Male victims were more likely to state that the spousal violence had not been brought to the attention of police (76%) than female victims (64%). When police had been made aware of spousal violence, most victims reported that they were satisfied with police response (65%).
• Findings from the 2014 GSS indicate there may be a relationship between abuse during childhood and spousal violence later in life. More individuals who reported experiencing spousal violence reported having been physically and/or sexually abused as children (48%), compared to those who did not report spousal violence (32%).
• A history of family violence in the childhood home was notable among those who reported being the victim of spousal violence as adults. Over one in five (21%) spousal violence victims reported having witnessed abuse committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child. This proportion is significantly higher than the 11% of respondents in spousal relationships free of violence who had witnessed violence as children.
• Data from the 2014 GSS show that individuals self-identifying as Aboriginal were more than twice as likely as non-Aboriginal people to report experiencing spousal violence in the previous five years (9% versus 4%, respectively). In particular, Aboriginal females were more likely to be victimized by current or former partners, as compared to non-Aboriginal women. Rates of self-reported spousal victimization among the Aboriginal population have not changed in a significant way from 2009 (10%) to 2014 (9%).
• Aboriginal people more often reported having experienced abuse as children, a factor shown to be associated with spousal victimization later in life. People identifying as Aboriginal were also more likely than non-Aboriginals to report having witnessed violence committed by a parent, step-parent or guardian as a child.