Infographic: GBV Overview

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Gender-based violence: It’s not just

Across Canada, people face violence every day because of their gender, gender expression, gender identity, or perceived gender identity. This is called gender-based violence (GBV) — and it’s a violation of human rights. 

GBV is often misunderstood, and even more often dismissed as “just a girl thing”. But GBV affects us all, and it’s everyone’s job to stop it. 

It’s not just a minor problem

Gender-based violence is prevalent across Canada, and it has a serious impact.

• 160 women and girls were killed by violence in 2020^{Footnote i}
• 44% of women in Canada have experienced some form of violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime^{Footnote ii}
• 7 million women in Canada have been sexually assaulted at least once since the age 15^{Footnote iii}
• 61% of women aged 15 – 24 experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in public places^{Footnote iii}

Younger women experience higher rates of gender-based violence. ^{Footnote iii} 

It’s not just flirting

Sexual violence, including forced sexual activity, catcalling or unwanted touching, disproportionately affects women.

• Overall, women are 5x more likely to be sexually assaulted than men ^{Footnote iv}
• But women 15-24 are 7x more likely to be sexually assaulted than men of the same age^{Footnote i} 

It’s not just in person

Online violence gives perpetrators new methods to control victims, like GPS phone tracking or harassment campaigns.

• 23% of women worldwide have experienced online abuse or harassment at least once in their life. ^{Footnote v}
• In 2018, 18% of women experienced unwanted behaviour in a virtual space in the 12 months prior ^{Footnote iii}and 33% of young women aged 15 to 24 experienced online harassment at least once in the 12 months prior ^{Footnote ii}

It’s not just the same for everybody

Some groups are more likely to experience GBV, including

Indigenous women

• 16x more likely for Indigenous women to be murdered or missing than white women ^{Footnote vi}

non-heterosexual people

• 67% of LGB+ women who had ever been in an intimate partner relationship had experienced at least one type of intimate partner violence since the age of 15 ^{Footnote vii}

transgender and gender-diverse people

• 58% of transgender or gender-diverse people said they experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public in the previous 12 months ^{Footnote viii}

women living in remote or rural areas

• 8x - Rural crime rates for intimate partner violence were higher than in urban areas^{Footnote ix}

women with disabilities

• 27% of women with a disability said they experienced online harassment in the previous 12 months ^{Footnote x}

It’s not just a personal issue

Gender-based violence affects everyone. Big and small, it has an impact on our:

economy

• limits earnings for women
• lowers business productivity
• increases turnover 

healthcare

• causes mental health issues
• creates unwanted or unhealthy pregnancies
• increases sexually transmitted infections 

communities

• makes neighbourhoods feel unsafe
• normalizes GBV
• creates cycles of GBV that last generations

By recognizing and refusing to dismiss gender-based violence, we can work together to end it and make Canada a safer place to live.

Learn how to stop dismissing gender-based violence at Canada.ca/ItsNotJust