FACT SHEET: women, sexual abuse & sexual assault

Canadian women endure sexual assault in large numbers

• Women make up the vast majority of victims of sexual assault (86%) and other types of sexual offences (78%) (Statistics Canada, 2001).
• More than one-third of Canadian women (39%) have experienced at least one incident of sexual assault since the age of 16 (Statistics Canada, 1993).
• Only 6% of women ever report their sexual assault to the police. The other 94% struggle silently to cope with the long-term effects (Statistics Canada, 1993).
• In 2000, 27,154 sexual offences were reported in Canada, including 24,049 sexual assaults and 3,105 other types of sexual offences (such as sexual touching, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, incest, sodomy and bestiality).
  

Canadian women cope with the risk of sexual assault daily

• 83% of Canadian women fear walking to their cars in a public garage after dark alone. (Statistics Canada, 1993)
  
• 75% of Canadian women fear waiting for or using public transportation.
• 60% of Canadian women fear walking alone in their own neighbourhood.
• 39% of Canadian women fear being at home alone.
  

Sexual assault is a major societal problem right here in Alberta

• A shocking 58% of Alberta women have experienced at least one incident of sexual or physical assault since the age of 16 (Statistics Canada, 1993).

Girls endure long-term impacts of sexual abuse

• When sexually molested as girls, adult women are more likely than non-victims to suffer from both physical and psychological problems.
• Abusive and manipulative offenders may target these women as victims in adult relationships because of their vulnerability (Moeller & Bachmann, 1993).

Indigenous women are higher-risk targets for sexual assault

• Rates of reported sexual assault are more than three times higher for Indigenous women than non-Indigenous women in the United States (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999).
• Fully 70% of all violent crimes against Indigenous people in the United States -- and 90% of sexual assaults -- are carried out by non-Indigenous people (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1999).
• Frontline organizations confirm that racist and sexist attitudes toward Aboriginal women continue to make them vulnerable to sexual assaults in Canadian cities (Amnesty International, 2004).

Women with disabilities are targets for sexual assault

• A Canadian study estimates that 40% of women with disabilities have had some experience with assault, sexual assault, or childhood sexual abuse (Stimpson and Best, 1991).
• It's estimated that women with disabilities are 1.5 to 10 times more likely to be abused than non-disabled women, depending on whether they live in the community or in institutions (Sobsey, 1988).
  

Lesbian women are affected by sexual violence too

• A study found that 20% of lesbians had experienced some form of emotional/psychological or physical violence while in a relationship with another woman.
• In that study, 11% of the women had experienced physical violence in the relationship, and 2% had been sexually assaulted.
• These statistics are lower than in male-female relationships, but it's an important issue because lesbians may not feel they can seek help from social services, police or the courts because of stigma and discrimination surrounding their sexual orientation (Health Canada, 1998).

AASAS welcomes your suggestions and recommendations about other relevant research references that could be included on this website. Please e-mail us at info@aasas.ca.

References

Amnesty International. (2004). Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada.

Health Canada. (1998). Abuse in Lesbian Relationships: Information and Resources.

Moeller, T.P. and Bachmann G.A. (1993). The Combined Effects of Physical, Sexual and Emotional Abuse During Childhood: Long-term Health Consequences for Women. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17 (5), 623 - 640.

Sobsey, D. (1988). Sexual Offenses and Disabled Victims: Research and Practical Implications. Vis-à-vis, 6 (4). 1 - 2.

Statistics Canada. (1993). The Violence Against Women Survey (Catalogue 11 - 001E). The Daily, 1 - 9.

Statistics Canada. (2001). Canadian Crime Statistics 2000 (Catalogue 85 - 205).

Statistics Canada. (2005). Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile (Catalogue 85 - 224).

Stimpson, L. and Best, M. (1991). Courage Above All: Sexual Assault Against Women With Disabilities. Toronto: Disabled Women's Network Canada.

U.S. Department of Justice. (1991). American Indians and Crime.