Domestic and Workplace Violence

Highlights:

• In 2009, close to 67,000 Aboriginal women aged 15 or older living in the Canadian provinces reported being the victim of violence in the previous 12 months. Overall, the rate of self-reported violent victimization among Aboriginal women was almost three times higher than the rate of violent victimization reported by non-Aboriginal women.
• Close to two-thirds (63%) of Aboriginal female victims were aged 15 to 34. This age group accounted for just under half (47%) of the female Aboriginal population (aged 15 or older) living in the ten provinces. Young females were also highly represented among non-Aboriginal victims.
• The majority of violent incidents against Aboriginal women committed outside of a spousal relationship did not result in injury (84%) and did not involve the use of a weapon (89%). Comparable findings were seen among non-Aboriginal women.
• Over three-quarters (76%) of non-spousal violent incidents involving Aboriginal women were not reported to the police, a proportion similar to that for non-Aboriginal women (70%).
• Among victims of spousal violence, close to six in ten Aboriginal women reported being injured during the 5 years preceding the survey, compared to four in ten non-Aboriginal women (59% versus 41%).
• Similar to non-Aboriginal women, about 4 in 10 Aboriginal women (42%) stated that they were very satisfied with their personal safety from crime.

Findings include:

• 29% of women surveyed said they’d been in an abusive relationship.
• 24% of women in abusive relationships have not told anyone they’re being harmed
• 62% of women who reported they had been in these relationships said that having the support of a friend, family member or coworker helped them “get through the relationship safely.”
• 42% of women who were in an abusive relationship and told someone they were being hurt said doing so helped them get out.

See also the Tell Somebody campaign site: http://www.glamour.com/tell-somebody/

"For every case of rape reported to police in Alaska, the state that consistently posts the nation's highest rate of sexual assault, another nine cases likely go unreported, according to a new study presented on Monday to the state legislature.

The study, conducted by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Justice Center and cooperating researchers, found that 37 percent of surveyed Alaska women had been victims of sexual violence, and 4.3 percent within the last year.

The 871 women surveyed for the study reported "astonishingly high" rates of sexual violence, said Andrew Rosay, director of the university's Justice Center.

"More than one out of every three experienced sexual violence at some point in their lifetime," Rosay told state senators at a committee meeting held on Monday in Juneau."