Unfinished Business

The most recent data show that in 2017 almost 96,000 people in Canada were victims of intimate partner violence,² representing just over a quarter (30%) of all victims of police-reported violent crime. Four out of five victims of all police-reported intimate partner violence were women (79%)—representing over 75,000 female victims.³ Women make up an even larger share of victims in intimate partner homicides: in 2017, 84% of all victims of intimate partner homicides were women.⁴

Levels of sexual assault are another critical concern. The rate of police-reported sexual offences has been increasing,⁵ especially among young women and girls.⁶ In 2017 alone, there were approximately 25,000 police-reported sexual assaults, an increase of 13% from 2016,⁷ following the #MeToo movement.⁸

The #MeToo movement has also prompted women to speak out about violence in the workplace. Women are twice as likely as men to report physical violence against them at work, and more than five times as likely to report sexual harassment or unwanted sexual attention.⁹ This is especially true for women working in female-dominated sectors such as health care, teaching, social services and hospitality workers – occupations that all involve a high degree of interaction with the public.¹⁰ A survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in 2017 found that 61% of nurses had experienced an incident of extreme violence in previous months.¹¹

It is important to note that police-reported statistics provide only a partial picture of the violence women experience. Sexual assault and intimate partner violence are vastly underreported. Statistics Canada estimates that 90% of the incidents of sexual assault and harassment¹² and 70% of the incidents of intimate partner violence are never reported to the police.¹³ And only a fraction of those that are reported lead to a conviction.¹⁴ Concern about deeply embedded biases of the criminal justice system is just one of the barriers deterring victims from reporting. Negative attitudes that expose survivors to blame, shame, scepticism and stigma, as well as well-founded fears of continuing violence for themselves and others work to silence women.¹⁵

Certain groups such Indigenous women, women with significant mental health concerns, LGBTQI2S+ people, women with disabilities, and immigrant and refugee women¹⁶ are at a much higher risk of violence than others.

According to the 2014 General Social Survey, Indigenous women and girls had an overall rate of violent victimization that was close to triple that of non-Indigenous women and girls, and Indigenous women were three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to have been a victim of spousal violence.¹⁷ Research from the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls found that Indigenous women and girls were 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than any other women in Canada, and 16 times more likely than caucasian women.¹⁸ One quarter of all female homicide victims in Canada in 2015 were Indigenous, up from nine per cent in 1980.¹⁹

Women with disabilities were nearly twice as likely to be sexually assaulted or the victim of repeated violent crimes compared to women without a disability.²⁰ In 2014, over one in five (23%) women with disabilities experienced emotional, financial, physical or sexual violence or abuse committed by a current or former partner in the previous five years, a rate almost double those without disabilities.²¹ It is important to acknowledge that women and girls with disabilities can be subject to unique forms of violence that spring from their dependence on caregivers (e.g., threats of abandonment, withholding needed care and supports) which can in turn make it extremely difficult to leave violent situations.²²

Individuals who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual were also more than twice as likely to be sexually assaulted as those who identified as heterosexual. Bisexual women, in particular, reported much higher levels of violent victimization and sexual assault compared to their heterosexual peers.²³

Federal Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-based Violence

Much work has been done since 2014 to address the issue of violence against women. The cornerstone has been the federal government’s Gender Based Violence Strategy. Launched in June 2017, the strategy is based on three pillars—prevention, support for survivors, and promotion of responsive legal and justice systems—under which a number of measures have been introduced and are being implemented.²⁴

The 2017 and 2018 federal budgets committed resources ($100 million and $86 million, respectively) for the rollout of the strategy over a five-year period.²⁵ Much of the funding has been earmarked for internal federal government priorities and initiatives and selected community projects.

Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls

Following concerted and long-term pressure by families of survivors, Indigenous women’s movements, settler women’s groups, as well as many civil society activists, the federal government fulfilled its pledge to carry out an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women. The inquiry was launched in December 2015, and the final report, Reclaiming Power and Place, was officially presented to the government on June 3, 2019. ²⁶

The report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country. Over 200 calls for justice are directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians.

At the closing ceremony, Chief Commissioner Marion Buller noted that “the hard truth is that we live in a country whose laws and institutions perpetuate violations of fundamental rights, amounting to a genocide against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.” The Commission called on all political leaders to work together to create and implement a national action plan with Indigenous peoples at the table to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The federal government has announced it will bring forward a national action plan, but no further details are currently available.

United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on violence against women 

In June 2019, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Šimonović, released her final report following her visit to Canada in April 2018. The rapporteur highlights that there is an urgent need for a more comprehensive and holistic national action plan on violence against women, ensuring that women and girls in all areas of the country have access to comparable levels of services and human rights protection.

In her report Šimonović notes: “Canada is a federal system with a division of responsibilities between the federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments, including in the area of violence against women. While the federal government has jurisdiction over criminal law, the administration of justice is a provincial and territorial responsibility. However, federalism should not constitute a barrier to human rights implementation.”²⁷

The rapporteur recommended that Canada adopt, in co-operation with independent human rights institutions and civil society organizations, a national action plan on violence against women, and a national action plan on violence against Indigenous women that ensures the same level of protection across the country, based on the implementation of international human rights standards and the recommendations of the CEDAW inquiry²⁸ report.²⁹

Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability

The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) was established in 2017 and released its first report on January 30, 2019.³⁰ The CFOJA’s mandate is to establish a visible and national focus on femicide in Canada by: (1) documenting femicides as they occur; and (2) monitoring state, legal and social responses to these killings. Its 2018 report found that:

• 148 women and girls were killed by violence in 2018. On average, every 2.5 days one woman or girl is killed in Canada—a consistent trend for four decades.
• Where an accused has been identified, 91% are male, consistent with national and international patterns.
• Indigenous women and girls are overrepresented as victims, comprising about 5% of the population in Canada but 36% of women and girls killed by violence.

Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking

Human trafficking disproportionately affects women. According to a report released by Statistics Canada, between 2009 and 2016, 95% of the victims of human trafficking were female, with young women and girls under age 25 representing 70% of all victims.³¹ With funding from the federal government, the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking launched the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline in May 2019, a new multilingual, 24/7 service that works to connect victims and survivors with social services, law enforcement and emergency services.³²

In 2017, the Canadian Human Rights Act was amended to include gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination. Violence motivated by gender identity was also included as a form of hate crime under the Criminal Code.³³

In 2018, the Canada Labour Code was amended to strengthen the existing framework for the prevention of harassment and violence, including sexual harassment and sexual violence, in federal workplaces.³⁴ Several provinces have also amended occupational health and safety and employment standards legislation, recognizing domestic violence as a workplace hazard and establishing paid and unpaid leave for domestic violence survivors.

On June 21, 2019, Bill C-78 came into law, amending the Divorce Act. Although the legislation did not include key amendments proposed by advocates,³⁵ it is a step forward that provides more protection to women fleeing violence.³⁶ At the same time, Bill C-71 received royal assent, amending current firearms regulations. This is seen as an important first step forward in reducing the number of women and children who are victims of femicide in Canada.³⁷