Impact and Statistics

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General Statistics

It is important to note that many victims do not report their experiences to the police, resulting in underreported figures. It is estimated that 44% of women or 6.2 million women aged 15 and older have experienced some form of abuse in their intimate relationships (Government of Canada, 2022).

Approximately only one in five (19%) victims of spousal violence self-report their experiences to the police (Statistics Canada, 2022).

The police are notified of less than 30% of Intimate Partner Violence cases, and 44% of Canadian women report having been physically or sexually assaulted in an intimate relationship (Letourneau, Dawn, Barton, & Griggs, 2023).

Violence is more likely to occur against people who identify as women with disabilities, Indigenous women, women from visible minorities, or women who identify as LGBTQ+ (Government of Canada, 2022); Regardless of the type of intimate partner relationship, women constituted the majority (79%) of intimate partner violence victims (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Women and girls constituted two-thirds (69%) of the family violence victims. Women and girls are more than twice as likely to be victims of family violence as men and boys (457 victims compared with 212 per 100,000 population) (Statistics Canada, 2022).

The rate of victimization for women and girls is nearly four times higher for intimate partner violence (Statistics Canada, 2022).

Calgary

In 2022, there were 4,723 reported incidents of violent crime categorized as domestic-related, according to Calgary Police Service (2023). These incidents included 4 homicides, 437 sexual offences, and 3,671 assaults (Calgary Police Service, 2023).

In an average month of 2022, Calgary Police Service answered over 1,600 calls related to domestic violence (City of Calgary, 2022).

Calgary Police Service respond to approximately 20,000 calls per year related to domestic violence. Of these calls, approximately 17% are specifically for domestic violence incidents, while the remaining calls pertain to dangerous domestic situations (City of Calgary, 2022).

Alberta

The rate of police-reported intimate partner violence against women in urban areas of Alberta is 535 incidents per 100,000 population. This is higher than the national average of 461 incidents per 100,000 population (Statistics Canada, 2022).

74% of Alberta report that they personally know at least one woman who has been sexually or physically assaulted. (This figure does not factor in the countless women who do not tell anyone about the assault(s) nore does it factor in any other type of abuse besides physical and sexualized violence.) (Canadian Women’s Foundation “Angus Reid Omnibus Survey”, 2012).

Canada

In Canada a women is killed by her intimate partner every 6 days. (Statistics Canada, 2019).

Family violence and abuse costs Canada an esitmated $7.4 Billion every year. (This figure is derived from costs associated with health care, criminal justice, social services, and lost wages/productivity.) (Canadian Woman’s Foundation.)

Police-reported data from 2021 indicates that 114,132 individuals aged 12 and over experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2022).

In urban locations, the rate of police-reported intimate partner violence against women is 461 incidents per 100,000 population (Statistics Canada, 2022).

In 2021, the rate for female victims of police-reported family violence was 457 incidents per 100,000 population (Statistics Canada, 2022).

2021 was the seventh consecutive year of gradual increase in police-reported intimate partner violence (Statistics Canada, 2022).

There were 127,082 victims of police-reported family violence in 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2022).

References

Calgary Police Services. (2023, February). 4th Quarter 2022 Statistical Report. Calgary. Retrieved from https://www.calgary.ca/content/dam/www/cps/documents/statistical-reports/quarterly/2022/Quarterly%20Statistical%20Report%20Q4_2022.pdf

City of Calgary. (2022, November 03). Calgary police note downward trends in domestic violence for Family Violence Prevention Month. Retrieved from https://newsroom.calgary.ca/calgary-police-note-downward-trends-in-domestic-violence-for-family-violence-prevention-month/

Government of Canada. (2022). Fact sheet: Intimate partner violence. Women and Gender Equality Canada. Retrieved from https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/gender-based-violence/intimate-partner-violence.html

Letourneau, N., Dawn, L., Barton, S. S., & Griggs, K. (2023). Service Providers’ Perspectives: Reducing Intimate Partner Violence in Rural and Northern Regions of Canada. The Canadian Journal of Nursing Research , 55(2), 165–175. doi:10.1177/08445621221128857

Statistics Canada. (2022, February 15). Brief: Statistical profile of intimate partner violence in Canada. Ottawa. doi:https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/FEWO/Brief/BR11575288/br-external/StatisticsCanada-Brief-e.pdf

Statistics Canada. (2022, October 19). Victims of police-reported family and intimate partner violence in Canada, 2021. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221019/dq221019c-eng.htm