4. Canadian Indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – article 16: freedom from exploitation, violence, and abuse

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A PDF version of the Canadian Indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is available on the index page.

4.1 Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) since the age of 15

• Notes: Intimate partner refers to the current or former legally married spouse, common-law partner, or dating partner.
• Violence is broadly categorized into three types: psychological violence, physical violence, and sexual violence.
• Differences between persons with and without disabilities are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Survey of Safety in Private and Public Spaces From “Intimate partner violence: Experiences of women with disabilities in Canada, 2018” (Statistics Canada calculations).

Persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in their lifetime more often than persons without disabilities. Among persons with disabilities, 44% of men and 55% of women experienced IPV in their lifetime. This compares to 32% of men and 37% of women without disabilities.

4.2 Symptoms consistent with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of the intimate partner violence

• Notes: Intimate partner refers to the current or former legally married spouse, common-law partner, or dating partner.
• PTSD is characterized by feelings of detachment, nightmares, and avoidance behaviours.
• Differences between persons with and without disabilities are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Survey of Safety in Private and Public Spaces From “Intimate partner violence: Experiences of women with disabilities in Canada, 2018” (Statistics Canada calculations).

Persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without disabilities to report symptoms consistent with PTSD. This was a result of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the past month. Among persons with disabilities, 10% of men and 18% of women reported symptoms consistent with PTSD as a result of IPV in the past month. This compares to 2% of men and 8% of women without disabilities.

4.3 Physical assault by an intimate partner

• Notes: Intimate partner refers to the current or former legally married spouse, common-law partner, or dating partner.
• The data shown refer to physical assault or the threat of physical assault.
• Differences between persons with and without disabilities are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Survey of Safety in Private and Public Spaces From “Intimate partner violence: Experiences of women with disabilities in Canada, 2018” (Statistics Canada calculations).

Persons with disabilities were twice as likely as persons without disabilities to be physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Among persons with disabilities, 4% of both men and women were physically assaulted by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. This compares to 2% of both men and women without disabilities.

4.4 Emotional or financial abuse by an intimate partner

• Notes: Intimate partner refers to the current spouse or partner.
• Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). To protect the data confidentiality of non-binary respondents, who constitute a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories in the survey data used in this report.
• The distribution of men and women in the chart above includes persons who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small as a unique category, they were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Canadians' Safety, 2019 (Social Research Division calculations).

Persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over were more likely than persons without disabilities to report being emotionally or financially abused by an intimate partner in the last 5 years. Among persons with disabilities, 21% of men and 25% of women reported being emotionally or financially abused by an intimate partner in the last 5 years. This compares to 15% of men and 13% of women without disabilities.

4.5 Childhood sexual assault before the age of 15

• Notes: Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). To protect the data confidentiality of non-binary respondents, who constitute a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories in the survey data used in this report.
• The distribution of men and women in the chart above includes persons who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small as a unique category, they were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
• Unknown if disability present at time of assault, or if caused by the assault.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Canadians' Safety, 2019 (Social Research Division calculations).

Persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over were more likely than persons without disabilities to have experienced sexual assault before the age of 15. Among persons with disabilities, 5% of men and 14% of women reported having experienced sexual assault before the age of 15. This compares to 2% of men and 7% of women without disabilities.

Women with disabilities were nearly 3 times more likely than men with disabilities to have experienced sexual assault before the age of 15 (14% versus 5%).

4.6 Childhood physical assault before the age of 15

• Notes: Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). To protect the data confidentiality of non-binary respondents, who constitute a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories in the survey data used in this report.
• The distribution of men and women in the chart above includes persons who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small as a unique category, they were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
• Unknown if disability present at time of assault, or if caused by the assault.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Canadians' Safety, 2019 (Social Research Division calculations).

Persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without disabilities to have experienced physical assault before the age of 15. Among persons with disabilities, 33% of men and 30% of women reported having experienced physical assault before the age of 15. This compares to 20% of men and 16% of women without disabilities.

4.7 Victim of incident(s) of crime

• Notes: Respondents were asked if, in the past 12 months, they were a victim of incident(s) of crime.
• Sexual assault refers to forced sexual activity, attempted forced sexual activity, unwanted sexual touching, grabbing, kissing, or fondling, or sexual relations without being able to give consent.
• Robbery refers to theft or attempted theft in which the offender had a weapon or there was violence or the threat of violence against the victim.
• Physical assault refers to an attack (victim hit, slapped, grabbed, knocked down, or beaten), a face-to-face threat of physical harm, or an incident with a weapon present.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Rates in the source below were calculated per 1,000 population. In the chart, the rates have been converted to percentages by dividing the values by 10.
• Source: Criminal victimization in Canada, 2019 (PDF format) (Statistics Canada calculations).

Persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without disabilities to report being victims of incident(s) of crime.

About 7% of persons with disabilities were victims of physical assault compared to almost 4% of those without disabilities.

Persons with disabilities were almost 4 times more likely to report being victims of sexual assault than those without disabilities (6% versus 1.4%).