RESOLVE               news
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOR SOLUTIONS TO VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
Volume 2 Number 3
Page#1                                   Fall 2000
                                         "Building the smallest democracies at the heart of society."            Agreement# 1472364
     The United Nations: The International Year of theFamily, 1994
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Is Domestic Violence Down?
Statistics Canada Study Provokes Discussion

In July, the Canadian Centre for Justice Staticstics released its report Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile 2000. Comparing their 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization (GSS) with their 1993 Violence Against Women Survey (VAWS), they found a decline in the rate of domestic violence against women. Among the findings were the following points:

Increase in reporting to police

The 1999 GSS found that 37% of violence involving female victims was reported to police in the five-year period leading up to the study, whereas the 1993 VAWS showed a rate of 29% of cases being reported in the previous five years. This change may point to an increased level of confidence in the criminal justice system on the part of women victims (see figure 1).

Figure 1
Increase in Reporting
Adapted from Statistic Canada, Family Violence in Canada,
Catalogue No. 85-224,200,
pp.19 and 20
Decrease in wife assaults

Based on self-reports, rates declined from 12% in 1993 to 8% in 1999 (see figure 2).

Decrease in spousal homicide

An analysis of Canadian homicide rates over a 20-year period (1979-1998) shows that women are more than three times more likely than men to be killed by their spouse (3.4 wife victims for each husband victim). Over the two decades, the annual rate of spousal homicides has declined. For wives, the rate dropped from 15 per million couples in 1979 to 7 per million couples in 1998. The decline for husbands was not as pronounced, with a high of 5 per million couples in 1987 to 2 per million couples in 1998.

Decrease in the severity of assaults on wives

The 1999 figures showed a drop in both injury rates and injuries requiring medical attention when compared to the 1993 data. Interestingly however, the 1999 study points to a slight increase in the rate of assaulted women who feared for their lives.

In response to the findings of this study, local police and service providers commented:

"Ikwe-Widdjiitiwin, Inc.'s shelter statistics would indicate that our bednights are down from 1993. However, as also indicated by the study, more victims of abuse are fearing for their lives. Also, the number of reported sexual assaults towards women and their children are on the increase. Furthermore, the age of clients is going down, which in some ways is encouraging, as it indicates that women are leaving abusive relationships sooner."

~ Jocelyn Greenwood,
Ikwe-Widdjiitiwin

Figure 2
Decrease in Wife Assults
Adapted from Statistic Canada, Family Violence in Canada, Catalogue No. 85-224,200,
pp.19 and 20

"By the end of August 2000, the WPS responded to 9521 domestic related calls for service compared to 7201 in 1999, a dramatic increase. It is encouraging though, to see the rates of self reports in the study decrease as well as the numbers of injuries requiring medical attention. We believe more people will report to authorities when the confidence in the reponse systems increase as we are observing. We need all agencies, community groups and justice players to continue working towards integrated response systems."

~ Inspector Tom Legge, Winnipeg Police Service

 

 


What's Inside...
2. Prairieaction Update
3. RESOLVE MB Update
3. Working Group on Domestic Violence
4. RESOLVE SK Update
4. SK Youth Attitudes  


5. RESOLVE AB Update
5. Street Prostitution
6. China Confronts Family Violence
7. Announcements
8. Conferences
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