May 27 to June 2, 2018
Design by Loulwa Elali
National Victims of Crime Awareness Week provides an opportunity to learn about the issues facing victims of crime and what can be done to help them.
- 7 days to learn about how to help victims of crime
Victims of serious crimes
Spousal assault
- 53% of police-reported incidents are of spousal violence—this is 12% of all violent crime in Canada
- 80% of police-reported spousal violence victims are female versus 17% male
- 7 in 10 victims of spousal violence look for support services outside of the criminal justice system
Sexual assault
- In 2004, only 38% of cases of sexual assault and 37% of sexual offences resulted in a conviction
- In 2007, 92% of victims of sexual assaults reported to police were female
- 6 in 10 convictions of sexual assault and sexual offences result in incarceration
Criminal harassment
- 73% of all criminal harassment incidents reported to police were directed at women
- 38% of these reports were of being stalked by a person they had an intimate relationship with
Hate crimes
- 51% Race or ethnicity based
- 30% Motivated by religion
- 13% Based on sexual-orientation
- 6% Motivated by language, mental/physical disability, sex, age or other characteristic
Victim’s rights in the justice system
The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights came into force on July 23, 2015. This Act gives every victim, including young victims, the right to have their security considered and to reasonable and necessary measures to protect them from intimidation and retaliation in the courthouse.
- Right to information
- Right to protection
- Right to be heard
- Right to seek restitution
- Right to make a complaint
Where to find victim services
- The Victim Services Directory of the Department of Justice’s website: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/vsd-rsv/index.html
- The 2018 Victims and Survivors of Crime Week event map: http://www.victimsweek.gc.ca/map-carte/events-evene.aspx
Sources
- Department of Justice. Victims’ roles and rights in the criminal justice system. 2017.
- Statistics Canada. Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2012. 2014.
- Statistics Canada. Family Violence in Canada – A statistical profile. 2009.
- Statistics Canada. General Social Survey. 2004
- Statistics Canada. Measuring Violence Against Women, Statistical Trends. 2006.