What is Violence Against Women?
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines violence against women as:
“Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
Based on the advancements of women in our society, some people think that violence against women is no longer a problem but the statistics show us otherwise. In 2014, Statistics Canada reported that approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.
Women face many different types of domestic abuse which can include:
- Physical abuse: Slapping, choking, or punching. Being threatened with a knife or gun.
- Sexual abuse: Threats, intimidation, or physical force to force unwanted sexual acts.
- Emotional or verbal abuse: Threats to kill her (or to kill the children, other family members or pets), threats to commit suicide, humiliating or degrading comments about her body or behaviour, forcing her to commit degrading acts, isolating her from friends or family, confining her to the house, destroying her possessions, and other actions designed to demean her or to restrict her freedom and independence.
- Financial abuse: Stealing or controlling money or valuables (of particular concern to older women). Forcing her to work. Denying her the right to work.
- Spiritual abuse: Using her religious or spiritual beliefs to manipulate, dominate, and control her.
- Criminal harassment/stalking: Following or watching in a persistent, malicious, and unwanted manner. Invading her privacy in a way that threatens her personal safety.
Often people will ask, why doesn’t she leave if it’s not safe at home but the threat of violence increases for many women once they choose to leave the relationship.
- About 26% of all women who are murdered by their spouse had left the relationship.
- In one study, half of the murdered women were killed within two months of leaving the relationship.
- Women are 6 times more likely to be killed by an ex-partner than by a current partner.
- Many women say that they were abused by a partner after the relationship ended, and that the violence escalated following a break-up.
- Almost 60% of all dating violence happens after the relationship has ended.
What we’ve presented here on this page is just a small snapshot of the information available about violence against women. If you would like to learn more we recommend visiting the Canadian Women’s Foundation website. You may also check out these sources for some of the above statistics:
Police Reported Dating Violence in Canada, 2018
Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile, 2014
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please call our 24/7 Crisis Line: 1-800-267-5960
If you would like to be a part of the solution and do your part to end violence against women, click here to check out the ways you can help.