Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile 2009

The latest Stats Canada report on Family Violence was recently released. You can view/download a copy for free here.

I haven't had a chance to read the entire report but here are some of the listed highlights (low-lights really) which are most relevant (depressingly so) to the work we do at WRC, trying to educate men and boys about gender equity and putting an end to violence against women and girls:

• The majority of victims of spousal violence continue to be females, accounting for 83% of victims
• Girls under the age of 18 reported higher rates of both physical and sexual assault by a family member than boys ... more than 4 times higher for girls than boys
• Male family members were identified as the accused in a sizable majority of family-related sexual (96%) and physical assaults (71%) against children and youth
• Women continue to be more likely than men to be victims of spousal homicide. In 2007, almost 4 times as many women were killed by a current or former spouse as men
• Parents were the perpetrators in the majority of child and youth homicides committed by family members. Fathers(54%) were more likely than mothers (34%) to be the perpetrators.
• Senior female victims killed by a family member were most commonly killed by their spouse (40%) or adult son(36%). In nearly two-thirds of family homicides of senior men, an adult son was the accused killer.

Emphasis are mine.

Sure there's a lot to interpret and I am looking forward to reading the report in its entirety. But I do read this: Men remain the prevalent perpetrators of violence towards women and girls AND men and boys.

So for everyone calling and emailing me saying that women are more violent than men (or even equally as violent), and that we're just purporting a myth, you can stop now. Thanks.

Oh and we aren't anti-male either. Just in case you want to jump to conclusions.

Thanks to Interval House for making us aware that the report had been released.