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Study: Family violence and shelters for abused women

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2007

Family violence accounted for about 23% of all police-reported violent crime in 2007. Of the nearly 75,800 incidents of police-reported family violence, about 40,200, or 53%, were violent incidents perpetrated by a current or former spouse or common-law partner. Spousal violence was more likely to occur between current spouses or common-law partners than between former spouses or partners.

Nationally, the rate of police-reported spousal violence was 188 incidents for every 100,000 population in 2007, down 15% from 1998. This decline was primarily the result of a drop in the police-reported rate of violence committed against women. The rate of violence against men remained relatively stable.

In 2007, as in previous years, women continued to represent the vast majority (83%) of victims of spousal violence.

The most frequent type of spousal violence offence reported to police was common assault, which includes pushing, slapping and punching but does not involve weapons or serious physical injury. The next most frequently reported offence was major assault, which involves a weapon or results in bodily harm.

Police-reported data show that the types of criminal offences committed against male and female victims of spousal violence were generally similar. However, major assault was an exception. About 23% of male victims of spousal violence reported a major assault, compared with 13% of female victims.

In 2008, there were 569 shelters across Canada providing residential services to women and children escaping abusive situations. The Transition Home Survey captured information on the characteristics of the women and children staying in these shelters on a specific "snapshot day," in this case April 16, 2008.

On this date, about 4,300 women and their 3,400 dependent children resided in shelters. About three-quarters of women were there to escape an abusive situation. The remainder were there for other reasons, such as housing or addiction problems.

Of the nearly 2,900 children who had accompanied their mothers fleeing abuse, 69% were under the age of 10.

Some 117 shelters, just over 20%, had to refer 299 women and 148 children elsewhere on "snapshot day", most often because the facility had reached its capacity.

Overall, in the 12-month period from April 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, admissions to shelters reached just over 101,000 people: 62,000 women and 38,000 children. Over the previous 10 years, admissions to shelters remained relatively stable.

The various types of facilities providing shelter to abused women include transition homes, emergency-type facilities, such as women's emergency centres and emergency shelters, second stage housing and safe home networks. They differ in terms of the length of stay and the array of services offered.

Transition homes, which provide short- to moderate-term housing, were the most common type of shelter. In 2008, they represented 47% of all shelters, while emergency-type facilities accounted for 26%.

Since about 70% of mothers coming to shelters to escape abuse are accompanied by their children, many facilities offer services that address the needs of child residents. About three-quarters provided recreational facilities for children; about half offered specialized programming for child witnesses and victims of abuse.

Note: Spousal violence refers to violence committed by legally married, common-law, separated and divorced partners. Data for spousal violence come from a sub-set of 153 police services, representing about 94% of Canada's population in 2007, which reported to the newest version of the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR2.2).

Disclosing spousal violence can be difficult for many victims. As such, not all incidents are reported to the police. This analysis was limited to those incidents of spousal violence reported to the police. Provincial and territorial variations in charging practices, as well as different policies and police resources, may be related to differences in the distribution of offence types across the country.

Information on shelters in Canada was collected through the Transition Home Survey, a biennial census of all residential facilities for female victims of family violence. Since about 9 in 10 shelters prohibited the admission of men, information on men using these facilities is limited.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 3302, 3315 and 3328.

The 2009 edition of Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile (85-224-X, free) is now available. The focus of this edition is a profile of shelters that provide residential services to women and children fleeing abusive situations. The 2009 edition also presents fact sheets, data tables and figures on spousal violence, family violence against children and youth, family violence against seniors aged 65 and older, and family-related homicides.

From the Publications module of our website, choose All subjects, then Crime and justice. A printed copy is also available from the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (toll-free 1-800-267-1291; 613-957-2938).

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

Table 1

Number of violent crimes by sex of victim and relationship to accused, reported to a subset of police services, 2007 
Relationship of accused to victim Total Sex of victim
      Female Male
  number % number % number %
Total victims of violent crime 335,676 100 167,994 100 167,682 100
Total family 75,779 23 54,186 32 21,593 13
Total spouse 40,165 12 33,227 20 6,938 4
Current spouse1 28,637 9 23,726 14 4,911 3
Ex-spouse2 11,528 3 9,501 6 2,027 1
Total other family 35,614 11 20,959 12 14,655 9
Parent 11,064 3 6,412 4 4,652 3
Child 6,640 2 4,282 3 2,358 1
Sibling 8,317 2 4,782 3 3,535 2
Extended family 9,593 3 5,483 3 4,110 2
Total friends/acquaintances 125,918 38 66,412 40 59,506 35
Boyfriend/girlfriend 19,851 6 16,333 10 3,518 2
Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend 11,886 4 9,817 6 2,069 1
Close friend 11,143 3 5,534 3 5,609 3
Casual acquaintance 64,858 19 27,754 17 37,104 22
Business relationship 12,534 4 4,767 3 7,767 5
Criminal relationship 1,863 1 399 0 1,464 1
Authority figure 3,783 1 1,808 1 1,975 1
Stranger 77,250 23 22,888 14 54,362 32
Unknown 56,729 17 24,508 15 32,221 19
Includes legally married and common-law partners.
Includes separated and divorced partners.
Note(s):
Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. Excludes incidents where the sex and/or age of the victim was unknown. Current spouse and ex-spouse categories include victims aged 15 to 98.

Table 2

Number of shelters for abused women by type of facility, Canada, provinces and territories, 2007/2008 
  Transition house Second stage housing Women's emergency centre Emergency shelter Safe home network Other1 Total, all shelter types
  number number Rate2
Canada 265 104 67 77 17 39 569 7
Newfoundland and Labrador 6 4 1 2 0 2 15 11
Prince Edward Island 0 4 0 1 0 0 5 14
Nova Scotia 11 4 0 1 0 0 16 7
New Brunswick 14 4 0 2 1 1 22 12
Quebec 101 12 2 1 0 10 126 7
Ontario 49 29 20 47 0 15 160 5
Manitoba 3 7 6 5 1 7 29 11
Saskatchewan 8 6 3 6 0 1 24 10
Alberta 4 10 31 3 0 2 50 6
British Columbia 64 23 1 6 15 1 110 10
Yukon 2 1 1 1 0 0 5 65
Northwest Territories and Nunavut3 3 0 2 2 0 0 7 47
Includes Ontario's Family Resource Centres, Manitoba's Interim housing, satellites and other facilities not otherwise classified.
Rates are calculated based on 100,000 population of married, common-law and separated women. Separated includes persons currently married, but who are no longer living with their spouse (for any reason other than illness or work) and have not obtained a divorce. Persons who are separated but who live with a common-law partner are not included. Population estimates are provided by Statistics Canada, Demography Division. Populations as of July 1: preliminary post-censal estimates for 2007.
Due to a limited number of facilities in conjunction with low response rates for Northwest Territories and Nunavut, information for shelters in these territories has been combined, for reasons of confidentiality and data quality.