Gender-based Violence (GBV) against Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A Snapshot

Many Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+^{Footnote 1} people experience higher rates of GBV. Legacies of colonialism, historical trauma, intergenerational transmission of violence, and anti-Indigenous racism can exacerbate violence against Indigenous Peoples.

Sexual violence

Indigenous women are more likely than non-Indigenous women to have experienced sexual assault since age 15.^{Footnote 2}

Indigenous women ^{Footnote 3} : 43%

Non-Indigenous women: 30%

In 2018, rates of sexual assault in the previous 12 months against Indigenous women were more than 3 times higher than among non-Indigenous women.^{Footnote 4}

Intimate Partner Violence

Indigenous women are significantly more likely than non-Indigenous women to have experienced intimate partner violence^{Footnote 5} since age 15.

Indigenous women: 61%

Non-Indigenous women: 44%

A significantly higher proportion of Indigenous than non-Indigenous women have experienced either physical or sexual abuse by an intimate partner since age 15.

Indigenous women: 44%

Non-Indigenous women: 25%

In 2018, 17% of Indigenous women said they had experienced intimate partner violence in the previous 12 months.

Indigenous women account for approximately 5% of all women in Canada but accounted for 21% of all women killed by an intimate partner from 2014 to 2019.^{Footnote 6}

Due to interesting forms of discrimination and inequality, some groups of Indigenous women^{Footnote 7} are at even greater risk of experiencing GBV.

This infographic was prepared by Women and Gender Equality Canada as part of the Workplan of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Task Team on Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice 2021-2023. It was shared with the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for the status of women in December 2021.