Violence Against Women

Economic Independence

 

Violence Against Women

Domestic Violence

• 7% of Ontario women living in a common-law or marital relationship reported experiencing physical/sexual assault by a spousal partner at least once during the period of 1999-2004.¹
• There have been approximately 25 female victims of spousal homicide each year in Ontario from 1975-2004.²
• Almost 40% of women assaulted by spouses said their children witnessed the violence against them, and in many cases the violence was severe.³
• 11% of non-Aboriginal and 21% of Aboriginal women in Canada reported experiencing criminal harassment (or “stalking”) during the period of 1999-2004.⁴
• In 2004, Aboriginal women were three times more likely to experience spousal violence and the rate of spousal homicide for Aboriginal women was eight times the rate for non-Aboriginal women.⁵
• 74% of women residing in Ontario shelters on April 14, 2004 were victims of abuse.⁶
• In 2004, 53% of women escaping abusive situations were admitted to shelters with their children, and 65% of these children were under the age of 10.⁷
• Just over one-third of spousal assaults are reported to the police.⁸
• The social costs of violence against women can be high:⁹
• Spousal violence has psychological, physical, social and economic impacts for victims, their families and society.
• Estimated economic costs of violence against women to health, criminal justice, social services and lost productivity range in the billions of dollars.

Sources:
1-5 and 8-9: Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006
6-7: Transition Homes in Canada: Ontario Fact Sheet, 2003/2004

 

Sexual Assault and Harassment

• More than one third of Canadian women report having had at least one experience of sexual assault since the age of 16.¹
• Less than 10% of sexual assaults are reported to the police.²
• 86% of victims of sexual offences reported to the police in 2004 were female, and young women under 25 experienced the highest rates of sexual assault.³
• Children and young people under the age of 18 represented 58% of victims of sexual offences reported to police in 2004.⁴
• In cases of sexual assault reported to the police in 2003, the vast majority were female victims (80%). Over half of these victims were girls between 11 and 17 years old.⁵
• In 86% of cases reported to the police the victim knew the accused – they were peers, acquaintances, co-workers or family members.⁶
• According to the 1993 Statistics Canada Violence Against Women Survey 23% of Canadian women had experienced work-related sexual harassment in the workplace.  Over half of these women (55%) were harassed by a co-worker.⁷
• Women who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace reported negative effects such as losing their jobs, damaged relationships with co-workers, losing friends, feeling stress with family members, depression, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, and physical illness.⁸

Sources:
1-4: Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006
5-6: Children and Youth as Victims of Violent Crime 2005
7: Perspectives on Labour and Income: Work-related Sexual Harassment
8: Workplace Harassment and Violence

 

Economic Independence

Women and Work

• The increased participation of women in the paid workforce has been one of the most significant social trends in Canada in the past 25 years. In 2004:
• 58% of all women aged 15 and over were part of the paid work force, up from 42% in 1976
• 11% of all employed women were self-employed
• 55% of all doctors and dentists were female, up from 43% in 1987
• A relatively large proportion of employed women work part-time:
• In 2006, 26% of all women in the paid workforce worked less than 30 hours per week at their main job, compared with just 11% of employed men.
• women have accounted for about seven in 10 of all part-time employees since the late 1970s.
• The majority of employed women continue to work in occupations in which women have traditionally been concentrated. In 2006:
• 67% of all employed women were working in one of teaching, nursing and related health occupations, clerical or other administrative positions or sales and service occupations.
• This compared with just 30% of employed men.
• Women continue to be under-represented in some areas of traditional male employment. In 2006:
• 31% of workers in manufacturing were women, as were 21% of those in primary industries and just 7% of those in transportation, trades, and construction work.
• Women working full-time, full-year earned 71% what men employed full-time, full-year made that year.
• The wage gap is increasingly being seen as a productivity gap – when women are under-employed or not trained to their full potential (or both) there are productivity losses to the entire economy.

Women and Education

• More than half of all women in Canada have had some form of postsecondary educational training. In the 2001/2002 academic year,
• 57% of all full-time university students were female, up from 37% in 1972/73.
• Women made up 30% of all university students in mathematics and physical science, up from 19% in 1972/73.
• Women made up 24% of all university students in engineering and applied sciences, up from 3% in 1972/73.

Sources:
Women in Canada – A Gender-based Statistical Report (2005) and Work Chapter Updates (2006).