On December 6 we recognize the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a time to honour the countless women throughout Canada and around the world who are victims of violence in their lives. December 6 reminds us to do our part, each and every day, to ensure our community and our country is safe for all women and girls.
- Half of all women in Canada over the age of 16 have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence.
- 67% of all Canadians say they personally know at least one woman who has been sexually or physically assaulted.
- On average, every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. In 2011, of the 89 police-reported spousal homicides, 76 of the victims (over 85%) were women.
- On any given day in Canada, more than 3,300 women (along with their 3,000 children) are forced to sleep in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence. Every night, about 200 women are turned away because the shelters are full.
- Each year, over 40,000 arrests result from domestic violence — that’s about 12% of all violent crime in Canada. Since only 22% of all incidents are reported to the police, the real number is much higher.
- More than 700 Indigenous women across Canada have died over the last two decades as a result of violence or whose disappearance remains unsolved. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations have called upon the Harper government to take action on this issue, without success.
- The cost of violence against women in Canada for health care, criminal justice, social services, and lost wages and productivity has been calculated at $4.8 billion per year.
- One in ten women report they have been stalked by someone in a way that made them fear for their life.
Data from Statistics Canada & Canadian Women’s Foundation
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