Many cases of domestic abuse are still not reported to the police – although there are some signs that reporting is increasing. The most complete information about the extent of domestic abuse in Canada comes from the 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization (GSS).   This victimization survey asked almost 26,000 women and men in Canada about their experiences of abuse including experiences of violence and emotional abuse in their current or previous marriages and common law partnerships. According to the GSS, women and men experience similar rates of both violence and emotional abuse in their relationships. The survey found, however, that the violence experienced by women tends to be more severe – and more often repeated – than the violence directed at men. For example, compared to men, women were:

six times more likely to report being sexually assaulted
five times more likely to report being choked
five times more likely to require medical attention, as a result of an assault
three times more likely to be physically injured by an assault
more than twice as likely to report being beaten
almost twice as likely to report being threatened with, or having a gun or knife used against them
much more likely to fear for their lives, or be afraid for their children as a result of the violence
more likely to have sleeping problems, suffer depression or anxiety attacks, or have lowered self-esteem as a result of being abused, and more likely to report repeated victimization.

Some researchers have noted that the survey also found that women experience higher levels of certain types of emotional abuse. Compared to men, women:

were four times more likely to report being threatened, harmed, or having someone close to them threatened or harmed
were four times more likely to report being denied access to family income
were more than twice as likely to report having their property damaged or their possessions destroyed
reported a higher incidence of being isolated from family and friends, and reported a higher rate of name-calling and put downs.

Homicide data reveals that women are also at higher risk of being killed by their husbands. In the past two decades, three times as many wives were killed by their husbands, as husbands killed by wives. The rate of spousal homicide is much higher for Aboriginal women and men.

No national data on the prevalence of domestic abuse in same-sex relationships is available; however, there is a growing body of research that indicates that abuse is a serious problem among both lesbian and gay couples.

1. (Adapted with permission from the web site www.canada.justice.gc.ca)