Statistics Canada Article on Self-Reported Sexual Assault in Canada

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat today published an article on Self-reported sexual assault in Canada, 2014.

It uses self-reported data from the 2014 General Social Survey on Canadians' Safety (Victimization) to present information on sexual assault in Canada, including sexual attacks, unwanted sexual touching and sexual activity where the victim was unable to consent. This article examines the characteristics of sexual assault victims and their perceptions of safety, and the characteristics of sexual assault offenders and incidents. The emotional and physical consequences of sexual assault, in addition to reporting sexual assault to the police and the reasons for not reporting, are also discussed.

Among the highlights:

• there were 22 incidents of sexual assault for every 1,000 Canadians aged 15 and older in 2014. This represented approximately 636,000 self-reported incidents of sexual assault.
• the rate of self-reported sexual assault in 2014 remained unchanged from 2004.
• a higher risk of sexual assault was noted among those who were women, young, Aboriginal, single, and homosexual or bisexual, and those who had poorer mental health.
• among the three types of sexual assault measured, seven in ten self-reported incidents were unwanted sexual touching, two in ten were sexual attacks and one in ten was sexual activity where the victim was unable to consent.
• overall, sexual assault offenders were most often men, acting alone and under the age of 35. Just over half of victims knew the person who sexually assaulted them.
• most often, offenders were a friend, acquaintance or neighbour, then a stranger. Of all sexual assault incidents perpetrated by someone other than a spouse, one in twenty was reported to the police, compared to one in three incidents of other types of crime measured by the General Social Survey on Victimization.
• most commonly, sexual assault victims reported feeling angry, or upset, confused or frustrated after the incident. One in four victims reported that they had difficulty carrying out everyday activities because of the incident. Further, one in six victims reported experiencing three or more longer-term emotional consequences, indicating the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder.