POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 75 According to the General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), there were about 128,000 senior victims of violence in Canada in 2019. Rates of violent victimization were five times lower among seniors aged 65 and older compared to younger Canadians (20 versus 100 incidents per 1,000 population) Overall, three-quarters (76%) of seniors who reported experiencing violent victimization in 2019 were physically assaulted. A smaller proportion of seniors, compared to younger Canadians, reported experiencing abuse by an intimate partner in the five years preceding the survey: 7.1% of seniors reported experiencing emotional or financial abuse and 1.5% reported experiencing physical or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the rate of police-reported violence against seniors increased 22% between 2010 and 2020, with the largest increase observed in the past five years among senior men. In contrast, police-reported violence against nonseniors decreased 9% during the same time period, with increases observed beginning in 2015 (+12% between 2015 and 2020). In 2020, nearly two-thirds (64%) of senior victims of police-reported violence were victimized by someone other than a family member or intimate partner. Acquaintances were implicated for more than one in four (28%) senior victims of violence while one-quarter (24%) of senior victims were victimized by stranger. Senior women who experienced police-reported violence were twice as likely to have been victimized by an intimate partner compared with senior men (16% versus 7%). More than half (60%) of all police-reported violence against seniors involved the use of physical force and an additional 19% involved the presence of a weapon. About one-third (35%) of seniors suffered a physical injury as a result of the violence they experienced. In 2020, the rate of police-reported violence against seniors was highest in the territories and New Brunswick. Between 2015 and 2020, police-reported senior victimization increased in every province and territory. The rate of police-reported violence was higher for senior men than senior women in every province and territory in 2020, and in nearly all census metropolitan areas. In 2020, the overall rate of police-reported senior victimization in the provinces was higher in rural compared to urban areas (247 versus 214 per 100,000 population). Seniors comprise almost one-fifth of all Canadians and their proportion of the population continues to grow as baby-boomers (i.e., those born between 1946 and 1965) age (Statistics Canada 2022; Statistics Canada 2021). In 2020, Canada was home to 6.8 million persons aged 65 years and older, comprising 18% of the total population (Statistics Canada 2021). In fact, demographic projections using a medium-growth scenario predict that, by 2030, more than one in five Canadians will be seniors, a figure that increases to one in four by 2060 (Statistics Canada 2019b). Overall, older Canadians are aging better, are more active and are engaging in fuller lifestyles than previous generations.At the same time, however, they remain at risk of experiencing violence at the hands of family members, intimate partners, friends, caregivers and others .Among seniors, a greater proportion (54%) are women in large part due to women living longer, on average, than men.The gender mortality gap, however, has diminished in recent years and is forecasted to continue shrinking in light of increased life expectancy among Canadian men. The growing proportion of seniors in Canada highlights the importance of understanding their risk of being victimized and, relatedly, their perceptions of safety and feelings of security. When seniors experience victimization, knowing where it occurs, who perpetrates it and whether it is reported to the police is crucial to understanding and mitigating risk. www150.statcan.gc.ca Violence against seniors and their perceptions of safety in Canada: Highlights
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