Canadian Perspective

Violence against women in Canada remains a significant problem. Canada is one of few countries who have made efforts in order to protect the rights of women, however, there is more work to do. The actual incidence of violent acts against women and girls is estimated to be much higher than official police reported statistics suggest, as a large percentage of this violence goes unreported. Police-reported data show just over 173,600 women aged 15 and older were the victims of violent crime in 2011, a rate of 1,207 victims for every 100,000 women in the Canadian provinces. The rate of police-reported violent crime against women is higher in the territories than elsewhere in Canada. In 2011, the rate in the Yukon was four times higher than the national average, the rate in the Northwest Territories was nine times higher and the rate in Nunavut was nearly 13 times higher population. This is slightly higher than the rate of violent crime against men. Provincially, the prevalence of violence against women generally reflects regional variations in overall violent crime. According to police-reported data, Saskatchewan and Manitoba consistently record the highest police-reported rates of violence against women, and in 2011 recorded about double the national rate. In contrast, Ontario and Quebec have the lowest rates in the country.