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The Daily. Thursday, June 28, 2001

Family violence: focus on child abuse and children at risk

Children who have heard or seen physical fights between adults or teenagers in their home are more than twice as likely to be physically aggressive as those who have not heard or seen fights, according to a new report that examines child abuse, children at risk, spousal violence and homicides.

These children are also more likely to commit delinquent acts against property, and to display emotional disorders and hyperactivity.

The fourth annual Family violence in Canada report analyses data on the extent of violence in the home from the third cycle of the National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth (NLSCY), conducted in 1998/99, and the 1999 General Social Survey (GSS). Its findings are largely consistent with many other studies. These studies show that children who are exposed to physical violence in the home tend to exhibit higher rates of depression, worry and frustration.

Note to readers This release is based on the 2001 edition of Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, funded by the federal Family Violence Initiative. This fourth annual publication focusses on child abuse and children at risk, and also provides estimates on the nature and extent of family violence and trends over time. The report's five chapters include Health Canada's Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, as well as information on child homicides, children witnessing violence in the home and children accompanying their mothers to shelters for abused women. The report also provides the most recent police-reported and hospital morbidity data on child abuse, as well as data on post-separation spousal violence and spousal violence among Aboriginal peoples. The data for this report are drawn from a number of sources. They include the 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization, National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCRII), the Homicide Survey, the Transition Home Survey and the Hospital Morbidity Survey.

NLSCY data show that 28% of children who witnessed physical fights in the home showed signs that they themselves had exhibited physically aggressive behaviour, more than double the proportion (11%) who did not witness physical fights. Similarly, 13% of children who saw physical fights between adults or teenagers showed signs of emotional disorders, compared with about 8% who did not.

According to the GSS, children saw or heard assaults on a parent in an estimated 461,000 cases of spousal violence in the five-year period preceding the 1999 survey, representing slightly more than one-third of all spousal violence cases.

About 70% of children who witnessed spousal violence witnessed assaults against their mothers, more than twice the proportion of cases (30%) in which men were the victims. In half of all cases of wife assault witnessed by children, the women feared for their lives or were physically injured because of the violence, compared with 12% and 24%, respectively, of cases involving men.

Children under the age of 15 were harmed or threatened in about 10% of spousal assaults against women and in 4% of assaults against men. This amounted to 90,000 cases of spousal violence, 70,000 involving women and 20,000 involving men.

Victims more likely to seek help if children see spousal violence

According to the GSS, victims in 45% of spousal violence cases witnessed by children reported it to police, more than twice the proportion of cases (18%) in which children did not see the violence.

Fifty-one percent of incidents witnessed by a child involving female victims were reported to police. When men were victims and a child saw the incident, about 30% of cases were reported.

Victims contacted a social service agency in 53% of cases in which children witnessed spousal violence, compared with about one-quarter of cases without child witnesses. However, women were more likely than men to call on social service agencies for help. About 62% of cases with child witnesses involving women went to a social service agency, almost twice the proportion (33%) of cases involving men.

Majority of children in shelters for abused women were there for reasons of abuse

One measure taken to help abused women and their children avoid abusive situations has been the development of a system of shelters in each province and territory.

In a "snapshot" taken on April 17, 2000 by the Transition Home Survey, nearly 1,900 children were reported living in shelters for reasons of abuse; they made up 91% of all children in shelters on that day.

These children tend to be very young. Children under the age of five constituted the largest proportion of children in shelters for reasons of abuse in 2000, followed by children aged five to nine. About one-half of women who took their children to shelters in 2000 were protecting them from witnessing the abuse of their mother, 39% were protecting the child from psychological abuse, 18% from physical abuse and 5% from sexual abuse.

Child homicides

From 1974 to 1999, the rate of children and youth killed annually has fluctuated considerably from year to year, ranging from a high of 14 per million in 1981 to the previous low of 8 per million in 1993.

Of the 1,990 solved homicides of youths up to the age of 17 during this 26-year period, family members were responsible for 63% of the deaths.

Rates of spousal violence greater for Aboriginal peoples

According to the 1999 GSS, about 20% of Aboriginal peoples reported being assaulted by a spouse in the five-year period prior to the survey, compared with 7% of the non-Aboriginal population.

Aboriginal women had the highest risk of spousal violence. Twenty-five percent of Aboriginal women were assaulted by a spouse during the five-year period, twice the rate for Aboriginal men (13%). About one-half of Aboriginal peoples who were assaulted by a spouse reported that a child had seen the incident. Eighty-nine percent of the victims were female.

Family violence in Canada also includes highlights from the newly released Canadian Incidence Study (CIS) of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect conducted at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Social Work through funding from Health Canada. The CIS captured information about children and their families across Canada as they came into contact with child welfare services over a three-month period in 1998.

Also released today are two Juristats. Children witnessing family violence presents more detailed analysis than is covered in Family Violence in Canada. The Juristat: Spousal violence after marital separation investigates the prevalence, nature and severity of violent or threatening behaviour that occurs following the breakdown of a marital union, using data from the GSS.

Marital separation may in some cases not mark the end of a violent relationship. About 37% of women and men with a former violent marriage or common-law relationship reported that the violent or threatening behaviour continued after the couple separated.

Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile 2001 (85-224-XIE, free) is now available on Statistics Canada's Web site (www.statcan.ca). From the Our products and services page, choose, Free publications, then Justice. It is also available in paper format at the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (1-800-267-1291; 613-957-2938). Also available is the Juristat: Children witnessing family violence. Vol. 21, no. 6 (85-002-XIE, $8/$70; 85-002-XPE, $10/$93) and the Juristat: Spousal violence after marital separation. Vol. 21, no. 7 (85-002-XIE, $8/$70; 85-002-XPE, $10/$93).

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Information and Client Services (1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.