Statistics Canada Report on Victimization of Aboriginal People

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat has published a report on Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014:

"While violence involving Aboriginal people has been the focus of social policy and research for quite some time, their overrepresentation as victims of violent crime has recently been at the forefront in Canada. Various reports have highlighted the elevated risk of victimization experienced by Aboriginal people. Examples include information produced by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Statistics Canada (...)."

"A better understanding of the extent of Aboriginal victimization—along with the context in which this violence occurs, the characteristics associated with violence and possible risk factors that contribute to violence—may help to inform prevention and policy programs. One source of information that can be used to measure violence against Aboriginal people in Canada is through the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization. By asking respondents aged 15 years or older to recount their experiences of selected forms of both violent and non-violent victimization, this survey captures detailed information on criminal incidents that may or may not have come to the attention of police."

Among the highlights:

• In 2014, a higher proportion of Aboriginal people than non-Aboriginal people in Canada reported being victimized in the previous 12 months. Overall, 28% of Aboriginal people living in the provinces and territories compared with 18% of non-Aboriginal people reported being the victim of one of the eight types of offences measured by the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization.
• Compared with 2009, fewer Aboriginal people reported being a victim of one of the eight crimes measured by the GSS on Victimization in 2014. The proportion of Aboriginal people living in the 10 provinces that reported being a victim decreased from 38% in 2009 to 28% in 2014, while the proportion of Aboriginal victims in the Territories decreased from 36% to 28% over the same period.
• In 2014, the overall rate of violent victimization among Aboriginal people was more than double that of non-Aboriginal people
• When controlling for various risk factors, Aboriginal identity by itself did not remain associated with increasing one’s overall risk of violent victimization. Rather, the higher rates of victimization observed among Aboriginal people appeared to be related to the increased presence of other risk factors among this group—such as experiencing childhood maltreatment, perceiving social disorder in one’s neighbourhood, having been homeless, using drugs, or having fair or poor mental health.
• According to the 2014 GSS on Victimization, Aboriginal females had an overall rate of violent victimization that was double that of Aboriginal males, close to triple that of non-Aboriginal females and more than triple that of non-Aboriginal males.