102 POLICEASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA Table 3 Self-reported sexual assault incidents and rates, Canada, 1999, 2004 and 2011 1 Rates are calculated per 1,000 population age 15 years and older Source: Statistics Canada. General Social Survey, 1999, 2004 and 2009 2 Use with caution SEXUAL VIOLENCE Statistics Canada uses two survey instruments to collect data on crime and victimization. The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) survey is an incident-based police-reported crime data survey collected annually. The other instrument is the General Social Survey (GSS) which collects self-reported victimization data from Canadians 15 years of age or older. The victimization survey is administered every five years (i.e., GSS 1999, 2004 and 2009). THE UCR2 captures three levels of sexual assault as well as “other sexual offences” as defined by the Criminal Code. • Sexual assault level 1is an assault committed in circumstances of a sexual nature that the sexual integrity of the victim is violated, where minor or no physical injuries are inflicted on the victim. • Sexual assault level 2involves sexual assault with a weapon, threats, or causing bodily harm. • Sexual assault level 3 is an aggravated sexual assault that results in wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering the life of the victim. For the self-reported survey, the GSS defines sexual assault as ‘forced sexual activity, an attempt at forced sexual activity, or unwanted sexual touching, grabbing, kissing, or continued... • As seen in Table 3, Canadians self-reported similar rates of sexual assault victimization in 1999, 2004 and 2009. • The majority (81%) of sexual assaults reported in GSS 2009 involved sexual touching, unwanted grabbing, kissing, or fondling. • From GSS 2009, 70% of all self-reported sexual assaults in Canada involved a female victim or about 472,000 female victims compared to 204,0002 male victims. • The rate of self-reported violent victimization among Aboriginal women was almost three times higher than the rate reported by non-Aboriginal women. The 2009 GSS found that nearly 67,000 or 13% of Aboriginal women aged 15 or older living in Canadian provinces self-reported that they had been a victim of sexual assault, robbery, and/or physical assault. DID YOU KNOW? • Self-reported victimization data shows that in 2009, 87% of sexual assault incidents were committed by a male offender which translates to about 510,000 individuals. • Derived from the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) administered by Statistics Canada’s Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), there were 132 males accused and 2 females accused of sexual assault in adult criminal courts in Nova Scotia for the fiscal year 2010/2011. Sexual assault number rate1 Year (thousands) 1999 502 21 2004 546 21 2009 677 24
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==