Abstract
Health IssueExposure to violence as children or as adults places a woman at higher risk of poor health outcomes, both physical and psychological. Abused women use more health care services and have poorer social functioning than non-abused women. Knowledge of the prevalence of violence against women, and of which women are at risk, should assist in the planning of services for abuse prevention and treatment of the health consequences of abuse.Key FindingsThe highest rates of any partner violence were in Alberta (25.5%) and British Columbia (23%). The lowest rates were in Ontario (18.8%). Women aged 15–24 had the highest rates in all regions in Canada, compared with older women. Aboriginal women in Manitoba/Saskatchewan and Alberta had higher rates of violence (57.2% and 56.6% respectively) than non-Aboriginal women (20.6%). Lower rates of partner-related violence were reported among women not born in Canada (18.4%) than among Canadian-born women (21.7%). Visible minority women reported lower rates of lifetime sexual assault (5.7%) than non-visible minority women (12.3%). Perceptions of violence may vary by ethnicity.Data Gaps and RecommendationsMore information is required concerning the prevalence of violence among Aboriginal women, immigrant and refugee women, women with disabilities, lesbian women and pregnant women. Future national population-based surveys need better questions on the health consequences of violence and related resource utilization. Further research is needed to identify the health care system's role in prevention, management and rehabilitation as they relate to violence against women. Future programs and policies must be based on valid, reliable and comprehensive empirical data.
Highlights
The definitions of violence and health used in this chapter are those from the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO)
We examined the rate of lifetime sexual abuse
Overall Rates The rates of violence reported by women respondents in the 1999 General Social Survey (GSS) are found in Figure 4; data are presented by type of violence, for regions and for all of Canada
Summary
The definitions of violence and health used in this chapter are those from the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO). The United Nations definition of gender-based violence includes any act "that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life." The WHO gives the definition of health as follows: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.". In Canada, two national surveys of violence against women[1,2] and a small number of local or regional studies have been carried out (see Figure 1). A sample of studies from Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, summarized, shows rates of violence to women.
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