Canada. Family violence accounts for about 23% of police-reported crime

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.

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