Manitoba posts second-highest rate of police-reported violence against girls, young women: StatsCan

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This article was published 17/12/2018 (1953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has the second-highest rate of police-reported violence against girls and young women in the country, while Winnipeg posted the third-highest rate among Canadian cities, according to figures released this week by Statistics Canada.

The 2017 numbers, released Monday, came as no surprise to one local expert.

“Prairie provinces have had higher rates of violence for quite some time,” said Kendra Nixon, an associate professor in the faculty of social work at the University of Manitoba.

“Domestic violence and violence against women is very complex,” said Nixon, who also serves as director of RESOLVE (Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse), a network that focuses on ending violence against girls and women.

The StatsCan numbers may be related to higher rates of poverty or racism, Nixon said. Poverty can often prevent many girls and women from escaping an unsafe situation before it escalates to violence.

Manitoba placed second to Saskatchewan among the 10 provinces, while Winnipeg placed behind only Thunder Bay, Ont., and Moncton, N.B., respectively.

While the overall rate of violent crimes has decreased between 2009 and 2017, police reports of sexual violence have increased by 31 per cent, according to StatsCan.

Taking into consideration the #MeToo movement and the increased general awareness of sexual violence, Statistics Canada found an increase of 13 per cent in police-reported sexual violence among girls and young women between 2009 and 2016.

In the report, the peak age was 15 for girls reporting violent crimes. Girls ages 12 to 17 are most likely to experience sexual violence, while young women are most likely to report physical assaults.

Indigenous girls and young women are disproportionately likely to experience violence, according to the recent report. In Canada, seven per cent of girls and young women are Indigenous, while just over one-third (34 per cent) of female homicide victims aged 24 and younger are Indigenous.

Girls and young women reportedly experience violence at a rate 35 per cent higher than boys and young men, a number that lead Nixon to wonder aloud if more girls and young women experience violence or if girls and young women were more likely to report violence to the police.

This report was released a week after the end of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence movement.

liane.carter@freepress.mb.ca