Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Canada: A Snapshot
PDF versionDescription: Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Canada: A Snapshot
Sexual violence
Almost four times as many women as men have been sexually assaulted since age 15Footnote 1.
30% of women
8% of men
Transgender and gender-diverse peopleFootnote 2 Footnote 3 are about 1.5 times more likely than cisgender people tp have been physically or sexually assaulted since age 15.
Intimate partner violence
Women are more likely than men to have experienced intimate partner violenceFootnote 4 since age 15.
6.2 million: 44% of women
4.9 million: 36% of menFootnote 5
Women account for 79% of victims of intimate partner violence incidents reported to police.
Over recent years, women have made up the vast majority (80%) of all victims of intimate partner homicides.
Gender-based violence at work
In 2018, almost 3 in 10 (29%) women said they had experienced inappropriate sexual behaviourFootnote 6 at work in the previous 12 monthsFootnote 7 compared to almost 2 in 10 men (17%).
Four times as many women as men have been sexually assaulted in a work-related context (13% vs. 3%)Footnote 8
Due to intersecting forms of discrimination and inequality, some groups of womenFootnote 9 are more culnerable to GBV.
Women with disabilities |
55% |
Women without disabilities |
37% |
LGBTQ2 womenFootnote 10 |
67% |
Non-LGBTQ2 women |
44% |
Indigenous women |
61% |
Non-indigenous women |
44% |
Non-racialized women |
47% |
Racialized womenFootnote 11 Footnote 12 |
29% |
Rural women |
789 |
Urban women |
447 |
In 2018, 12% of women aged 15-24 said they had been sexually assaulted in the previous 12 months, significantly more than among any other age group.
Women with disabilities |
39% |
Women without disabilities |
24% |
Non-racialized women |
33% |
Racialized women |
19% |
Sources: All data are from the following Statistics Canada surveys: Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, 2018; Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2019; Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work, 2020; and Homicide Survey. Some data are from custom tabulations that are not available online.
Note: Provincial and territorial data on various forms of GBV are available in the tables accompanying the following Statistics Canada reports: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00017-eng.htm and https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2020001/article/00012-eng.htm .
This infographic was prepared by Women and Gender Equality Canada as part of the Workplan of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Task Team on Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice 2021-2023. It was shared with the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for the status of women in December 2021.
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