A new @StatCan_eng report on violence against seniors and their perceptions of safety in Canada is out today. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002- Police-reported senior victimization increased in every P/T (22%) 2015-20 the largest increase is observed in the past 5 yrs among older men
Highlights:
- 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.
- Most seniors were somewhat or very satisfied with their personal safety from crime (82%), perceived their neighbourhood as having a lower amount of crime than other areas in Canada (77%) and reported a somewhat or very strong sense of community belonging (72%).
- 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 non-seniors 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).
- Between 2000 and 2020, 944 seniors were victims of homicide in Canada, which accounted for 7% of all homicide victims during this time. The large majority (88%) of these homicides were solved by police.
- The homicide rate among seniors increased between 2010 and 2020 (+9%), driven by the homicides of senior men (+28%).
- Among senior men who were homicide victims, two-thirds (67%) were killed by a non-family member, most commonly a friend (30%) followed by a stranger (20%) or an acquaintance (17%). Among senior women who were homicide victims, two-thirds (67%) were killed by an intimate partner (32%) or family member (35%), while one in eight (13%) senior women were killed by a stranger.
