Statistics

• As many as 1 out of 5 young women in high school are in abusive relationships
• 60% of all sexual assault victims are children under 18 years of age
• More than 13 women and girls are sexually assaulted in BC every day
• Some women have been beaten by their partners 35 times before they ever call police
• Every year, over 90,000 Canadian women and children are admitted to shelters for battered women
• 45% of women assaulted by a male partner suffered physical injuries that include bruising, cuts, burns, broken bones, fractures, internal injuries, and miscarriages
• Girl children are targets of abuse in the family more so than boys.  4 out of 5 family related sexual assaults are 79% girls and over half 55% of physical assaults are against girls by family members.
• In 1997, fathers accounted for 97% of sexual assaults and 71% of physical assaults of children
• Only 10% of sexual assaults on women are reported to the police
• In Canada, there are approximately 509, 860 cases of reported and unreported sexual assault incidents per year, which amounts to 1,397 sexual assaults per day. This daily figure is refined into one woman or child who is being sexually assaulted every minute of every day

Sources:

• Ministry of Community, Aboriginal, and Women's Services. A minute of silence.
• Morris, M. (2002, March). Fact sheet: Violence against women and girls.