Sexual Coercion and Violence in Federal Custody: Fiscal Year 2024 to 2025
Research Highlight: Reported allegations of sexual coercion and violence (SCV) stabilized in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 following previous shifts in the reporting landscape.
Number: RIB-25-18
Date: 2025
Alternative Format
Why we did this study
The implementation of Commissioner’s Directive (CD) 574 on Sexual Coercion and Violence within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) established a zero tolerance strategy to prevent, identify, respond to, investigate, and monitor allegations of sexual coercion and violence (SCV) in federal custody. The introduction of the policy corresponded with a change in the reporting landscape, marked by a notable increase in reported allegations (Lundy et al., 2025). This shift paralleled the experience of the United States following the introduction the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA; Rantala, 2018).
What we did
Reported allegations of SCV in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 were identified through a data extraction of CSC’s computerized database, the Offender Management System (OMS), as well as a manual review of other incident documents. Information was collected pertaining to the nature and circumstances of the SCV incident and the profile of individuals involved. Although reported in fiscal year 2024 to 2025, not all alleged incidents occurred in this period (such as, some were historical cases). Data pertains only to reported incidents and is unlikely to reflect the full scope of SCV.
What we found
In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, there were 164 allegations of offender-on-offender SCV reported in federal custody. Unique instigators and victims accounted for <1% of the average in-custody population, and the rate of incidents per 1000 offenders was 11.5. By comparison, the reported number was 166 in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, 137 in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, and 39 in fiscal year 2021 to 2022Footnote 1 . Cases were most common in the Quebec (29%) and Prairie regions (28%); regional variation is partially shaped by regional size differences; see Table).
Themes in the circumstances of allegations were largely consistent with prior periods: most incidents involved a single victim and a single instigator; the most common reported action was unwanted touching; and there was often a delay between incident occurrence and disclosure.
Most incidents involved medium security offenders. Indigenous offenders accounted for 49% of uniqueFootnote 2 instigators and 40% of unique victims (Indigenous representation in the federal in-custody population is around 33% Footnote 3 ). Men accounted for nearly three-quarters of instigators and victims; however, women and gender diverse persons were overrepresented in incidents (as both instigators and victims) relative to their in-custody representation. Over one-third of instigators and victims had a current sexual offence, and around half had documented histories of sexual victimization. Approximately one third had previously been involved in SCV incidents in federal custody. Mental health concerns were noted in a majority of cases (82% of instigators and 84% of victims).
Region |
Reported Incidents |
In-Custody Population* |
|---|---|---|
Atlantic |
22 (13%) |
10% |
Quebec |
47 (29%) |
22% |
Ontario |
43 (26%) |
28% |
Prairie |
46 (28%) |
29% |
Pacific |
6 (4%) |
12% |
Total** |
164 (100%) |
100% |
| *Based on the fiscal year end snapshot (fiscal year 2024 to 2025) from CSC’s Corporate Reporting System - Modernized (CRS-M). **Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. |
||
What it means
The implementation of CD 574 corresponded with an increase in reported allegations of SCV. This reflects a changing reporting landscape intended to facilitate disclosure and standardization in staff responses. Following this increase, there was a relative stabilization in counts, evidenced in fiscal year 2024 to 2025, and thematic trends have remained largely consistent.
References
Lundy, J., Woodard, A., & McKendy, L. (2025). Sexual Coercion and Violence in Federal Custody: Fiscal Year 2023 to 2024, RIB-24-13. Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service Canada.
Rantala, R. (2018). Sexual Victimization Reported by Adult Correctional Authorities, 2012-15. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. <https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/svraca1215.pdf>.
For more information
Please e-mail the Research Branch at research@csc-scc.gc.ca. You can also visit the Research Publications section for a full list of reports and one-page summaries.
Prepared by: Dirk Boon, Jessica Lundy, Andrew Woodard, and Laura McKendy