VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN in CANADA and Jessica St
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Researched and written by Holly Johnson and Emily Colpitts With assistance from Melanie Large, Colette Parent, Ann Denis, Sarah Baker, Lina Singh, Linda Christiansen-Ruffman, Lois Edge, FACT SHEET Selma Kouidri, Abby Lippman, Marilyn Porter, and Deborah Stienstra Translation by Roselyn Minka, Loutchka Télémaque VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CANADA and Jessica St. Pierre Administrative assistance by Caroline Paquette Distribution by Marion Pollack and Chantal Lunardi Widespread gendered violence perpetrated The dimensions of this violence are just beginning against women is a flagrant abuse of women’s to be understood as new forms are recognised. A human rights. According to the ‘draft agreed ground-breaking Statistics Canada survey in conclusions’ of the 57th session of the 19933 (which has unfortunately not been Commission of the Status of Women (2013) at the repeated) estimated that 51% of Canadian United Nations, violence against women and girls women experienced at least one incident of is sexual or physical assault since the age of 16. This figure masks important details showing that ...rooted in historical and structural women experience multiple acts of male violence: inequality in power relations between 39% reported sexual assault, 29% physical and women and men, and persists in every sexual violence by a marital partner, 16% by a country in the world as a pervasive violation dating partner, 23% by a friend or acquaintance, of the enjoyment of human rights …and and 23% by a stranger. One-quarter of women fundamental freedoms. [It occurs]…in public who were physically assaulted by a spouse were and private spheres, …is…linked with also sexually assaulted. Eighty-seven percent of gender stereotypes…and other factors that women had been sexually harassed and 80% of can increase women’s…vulnerability…1 women aged 16-24 were sexually harassed in one year. Despite decades of research and grassroots lobbying, violence against women remains one of An abbreviated version of this Fact Sheet is the most persistent manifestations of misogyny also available on our website (www.criaw- and gender discrimination. Globally, including in icref.ca) under Publications. Canada, women of all sectors of society are La version longue ainsi que la version abrégée subjected to a vast array of physical, sexual, and de ce Feuillet d’information sont également psychological acts of violence by intimate disponibles en français sur www.criaw- partners, as well as stalking, rape and other icref.ca/fr. sexual violence, sexual harassment, trafficking for the purposes of forced prostitution, female genital Other Fact Sheets published by CRIAW that cutting, and femicide.2 This Fact Sheet focuses on speak to violence against women are: information about violence against women in “Violence against Women and Girls”, 2002 and Canada. It draws on academic research, together nd with community and government reports, but, due “Violence against Women and Girls, 2 to the extensive literature available, is by no edition” 2002. means exhaustive. Both publications are available on our website. 1 120 University Pvt, FSS 11045, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Tel: 613-562-5800 x1849 [email protected] │ VISIT: CRIAW-ICREF.CA FACT SHEET Violence Against Women In Canada These results were reported at a time when crime victimization survey. It estimates that 6 per reducing violence against women and supporting cent of women (600,000 women) were victims of survivors had a place on the political agenda. This marital violence in the 5 years prior to being new knowledge exposed the vast dimensions of interviewed in 2009 and 178,000 were assaulted women’s experiences of male violence and by marital partners in the previous year.5 In helped to galvanize action which led to changes in addition, 460,000 women are sexually assaulted government policy and support for the work of by men other than marital partners each year. community and grassroots organizations. But Women are killed by intimate partners at a rate knowledge about the dimensions and severity of three times higher than men, and the Native violence against women and what needs to be Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) has done to ensure women’s safety from violence very documented 582 cases of missing and murdered quickly became contested terrain. The recent Aboriginal6 women. If this figure were applied neoliberal context has marginalized feminist proportionately to the rest of the female voices and caused governments to claw back population there would be over 18,000 missing important feminist gains.4 Canadian women and girls.7 At a time when gender inequality and other structural causes of Less extensive Canadian data gathering followed violence against women are being erased from the 1993 survey on violence against women. At public discourse, political action is an urgent the federal government level the main source of concern. information now is Statistics Canada’s omnibus Violence Against Women is a Human Rights Issue Violence against women violates women’s violence and disappearances stemming from fundamental rights to bodily integrity and freedom failures in official responses, colonization, from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading systemic racism, and social and economic treatment. These rights are enshrined in human conditions that perpetuate their vulnerability to rights treaties ratified by Canada.8 Violence violence. Numerous international treaty against women also constitutes a form of gender monitoring bodies have criticized Canada for its discrimination. International law requires countries failure to address the human rights violations of to use due diligence to adopt measures to Aboriginal women.9 In 2010-2011, the House of prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish acts Commons Standing Committee on the Status of of violence against women and girls, and requires Women conducted a study on violence against individuals and public officials to comply with the Aboriginal women and heard from over 150 standards set out by human rights treaties. witnesses about the long-standing discrimination and social and economic inequality that forms the For many years, women’s organizations and context of this violence.10 Yet the final report failed national and international bodies have produced to recommend meaningful action to address the compelling evidence of the Canadian marginalization of Aboriginal women that government’s failure to live up to its treaty contributes to their vulnerability and to widespread obligations to protect women from violence. tolerance of this violence from state officials, the Human rights violations affect all women but media and the general public. are particularly blatant for Aboriginal women and girls who suffer from historical and systemic 2 120 University Pvt, FSS 11045, Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Tel: 613-562-5800 x1849 [email protected] │ VISIT: CRIAW-ICREF.CA FACT SHEET Violence Against Women In Canada Repeated calls for a national inquiry into the women and girls in northern British Columbia disappearances and murders of Aboriginal where numerous women have gone missing or women and girls have gone unheeded. The been found murdered on a stretch of road known Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, as the Highway of Tears. They uncovered a established in 2010 by the Government of British “double failure of policing: widespread apathy by Columbia to examine the police response to the police toward disappearances and murders of cases of missing and murdered women in the Aboriginal women, as well as serious physical and Downtown Eastside of Vancouver between 1997 sexual abuse against women and girls and 2002, produced damning evidence of racist perpetrated by police themselves”.13 and discriminatory conduct on the part of law enforcement agencies. The Commission was This violence and abuse in northern British strongly criticized by women’s and Aboriginal Columbia is not new: it occurs within a historical women’s organizations for failing to consult with context of sexual abuse and exploitation and the Aboriginal groups on the mandate and scope of failure of law enforcement to protect Aboriginal the inquiry and for failing to provide the funding women.14 Understanding the context of this needed to ensure meaningful participation by violence and working towards its elimination Aboriginal women.11 Nevertheless, the requires, as Kuokkanen argues, an examination Commission concluded that “the initiation and of “the interconnections between indigenous self- conduct of the missing and murdered women determination and indigenous women’s rights,” investigations were a blatant failure” due to and “a specific human rights framework that discrimination, systemic institutional bias, faulty simultaneously accounts for indigenous self- police practices, and political and public determination and human rights violations of indifference.12 indigenous women.”15 In 2013, Human Rights Watch investigated the relationship between the RCMP and Indigenous Key concepts defined Women experience a wide range of different and demeaning comments and gestures of a but related forms of violence: sexual nature in public or private places, public display of sexually offensive material Physical violence – threats of violence, hitting Psychological abuse, emotional abuse, with fists or weapons, kicking, slapping, controlling behaviour – name calling, insults, beating, pushing, grabbing, strangling, choking, humiliation, destruction of personal property, burning, and similar acts forced isolation, and similar acts designed