Table 2 Police-reported intimate partner homicide, Canada 2009 and 2010 Type of intimate partner homicide Year 2009 2010 Spousal* homicide 65 65 Intimate partner** homicide 23 24 Total, intimate partner homicide 88 89 100 POLICEASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Did You Know 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 age 15 and over every five years (i.e., GSS 1999, 2004 and 2009). Definitions are important in survey data collection. Accordingly, a SPOUSE is defined to include legally married, common-law, separated and divorced partners. AN INTIMATE PARTNER includes a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, and other intimate relationships such as ‘extramarital lover’, and ‘estranged lover’. • To many victims of spousal violence, however, disclosing the situation to others can be very difficult. According to the most recent self-reported survey on victimization (GSS 2009), only 15.2% of victims who experienced spousal violence reported the incident to the police. This is less than the previous two self-reported surveys in 1999 and 2004, where 19.4% and 19.0% of the victims reported the incident to the police respectively (see Table 2). Table 2 Victims of self-reported spousal violence within the past 5 years who reported incident to the police, Canada, 1999, 2004 and 2009 Respondent reported incident to the police 1999 2004 20091 number percent number percent number percent Yes 240,000 19.4* 228,000 19.0* 180,000 15.2 No 962,000 77.6 962,000 80.2 996,000 84.0 No answer 37,000 3.0 10,000 0.8 10,000 0.8 Total 1,239,000 100.0 1,200,000 100.0 1,186,000 100.0 * significant difference from reference group (p < 0.05) 1 Reference group SOURCE: Statistics Canada, GSS 1999, 2004 and 2009 continued... • In 2009, there were 31,000 victims in Nova Scotia who self-reported that they have experienced spousal violence within the past five years. • Consistent with previous GSS victimization cycles, women continued to report more serious forms of domestic violence in 2009. Female victims of self-reported domestic violence in Canada were about three times more likely than their male counterparts to report that they have been sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or threatened by a gun or a knife by their current or former partner. • In 2009, a one-day snapshot of 402 adult male offenders in Nova Scotia’s correctional facilities revealed that just under one-third were in custody for domestic violence including 100 offenders who were considered to be at high risk for lethality. • Statistics Canada’s Transition Home Survey, taken on April 15, 2010, found that 84% of women in shelters in Nova Scotia that day were in the shelter because of abuse by a current or former spouse or common-law partner. • In 2010, there were 89 spousal and intimate partner homicides (see Table 3). • According to Statistics Canada, the rate of spousal and intimate partner homicide in Canada has decreased by 32% in the last three decades (i.e., from 1980 to 2010). * Includes both current and former, legal and common-law spouses. ** Includes both current and former boyfriend or girlfriend. SOURCE: Statistics Canada, CCJS, Homicide Survey, 2009 and 2010
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