Section 4: Police-reported family violence against children and youth

by Shana Conroy

Violence against children and youth has serious short‑ and long‑term implications. These may be physical or emotional in nature and impact the health, development and survival of victims (Public Health Agency of Canada 2016). Family violence against children and youth, where the perpetrator is a family member or relative and there is an expected relationship of trust or authority, can have especially serious consequences for victims. Within a family context, immediate and lifelong impacts on victims may include insecure attachment, self‑blame, anxiety, dissociation and developmental delays (Royal Canadian Mounted Police 2012). Violence against children and youth may put them at risk for future unhealthy behaviours such as substance abuse and unprotected sex (Public Health Agency of Canada 2016). These impacts may be further compounded if the cycle of violence repeats intergenerationally.

While the issue of violence against children and youth is complex and it is challenging to determine its true scope, it is estimated that globally, during childhood, 25% of adults experienced physical abuse while 20% of women and 8% of men experienced sexual abuse (World Health Organization 2016). Identified as a major global public health concern by experts, measuring the prevalence of this type of violence is particularly challenging as young victims may be unaware that they are being victimized, may not know how to seek help or may be unable to report their victimization (United Nations 2006; Ogrodnik 2010; Kuoppamäki et al. 2011).

Using data from the 2016 Incident‑based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and the 2016 Homicide Survey, this section presents information on police‑reported family violence against children and youth aged 17 and younger. The following analysis highlights the prevalence of violent offences against children and youth where the perpetrator is a family member. The information includes type of offence, relationship to the perpetrator and geographical location. Trend analysis of selected police‑reported violent offences against children and youth is also presented to indicate changes over time. For the first time in 2016, this section also includes an analysis of persons accused of family violence against children and youth. Information on the sex and age of those accused of family‑related violent crime provides insight into the dynamics underpinning violent family contexts.

This section includes all types of violent offences under the Criminal Code that were reported to the police in 2016, ranging from uttering threats to physical and sexual violence to homicide. Non‑violent crimes such as theft and fraud, abuses unsubstantiated by police, and other forms of conduct not covered by the Criminal Code are not included in this section. In addition, analysis based on the Homicide Survey excludes homicides that have not been solved by police.

In order to combat sexual violence against children and youth, the Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act came into effect in 2015. This increased the maximum penalties for the following sexual offences against children: sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, making sexually explicit material available to a child, luring a child via a computer, and agreement or arrangement to commit a sexual offence against a child. The maximum penalty for sexual offences against children was raised to 14 years while the maximum penalty for sexual assault (level 1) remained unchanged at 10 years. Changes to maximum penalties had an impact on incidents where both sexual assault (level 1) and a sexual offence against a child were reported, as the most serious violation reported by police may have been affected.^Note 

Unless otherwise specified, all rates in this section are per 100,000 population. Information on data sources, survey methodology and definitions can be found in the “Survey description” section of this report.

Three in ten child and youth victims of police‑reported violent crime were victimized by a family member

• In 2016, there were approximately 54,900^Note  child and youth victims (aged 17 and younger) of police‑reported violent crime in Canada. Children and youth represented around one in six (16%) victims of violent crime (Table 4.1).
• Among child and youth victims, approximately 16,200 (30%) were victims of family violence perpetrated by a parent, a sibling, a spouse or another type of family member.
• The majority (59%) of child and youth victims of family violence were victimized by a parent. Victimization by a parent decreased with age: it was most common among the youngest victims of family violence (under age 1) (87%) and least common among youth (aged 12 to 17) (49%) (Table 4.2).
• In general, rates of family violence increased with age. Youth (aged 12 to 17) had the highest rates while very young children (under age 1) had the lowest. However, abuse of the youngest victims may go unreported for a variety of reasons (United Nations 2006; Ogrodnik 2010; Kuoppamäki et al. 2011) (Table 4.3).
• Overall, female children and youth were more often victims of police‑reported family violence than their male counterparts (rates of 280 and 188 per 100,000 population, respectively) (Table 4.3).
• The age at which female and male children and youth were most often victimized by a family member was at age 15 (rates of 530 and 267, respectively). Of note, female youth aged 14 and 15 were twice as likely as their male counterparts to be victimized by a family member (Table 4.3).
• More than two in five (44%) child and youth victims of police‑reported family violence saw the incidents in which they were victimized cleared^Note  by the laying or recommendation of a charge against the accused. For another 28% of child and youth family violence victims, incidents were cleared by other means, such as departmental discretion (9%). The remaining 28% victims were involved in incidents that were not cleared (Table 4.4).

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Rate of police‑reported family‑related sexual offences over four times higher for female children and youth than their male counterparts

• In 2016, physical assault was the most common type of police‑reported family violence against children and youth (a rate of 133 per 100,000 population), followed by sexual offences (73) such as sexual assault and sexual interference (Table 4.5).
• The rate of physical assault against children and youth perpetrated by a family member was similar for females and males (129 versus 136). However, the rate of sexual offences against female children and youth was 4.5 times higher than that for their male counterparts (121 versus 27) (Table 4.5).
• Kidnapping and abduction were relatively rare occurrences among police‑reported incidents of family violence. Specifically, there were 373 child and youth victims of kidnapping and abduction (a rate of 5 per 100,000 population) (Table 4.5).
• Between 2006 and 2016, there were 303 child and youth victims of family‑related homicide. The most common causes of death were beating (26%), strangulation, suffocation or drowning (24%) and stabbing (17%). Half (48%) of child and youth victims of family‑related homicide were aged 3 and younger (Table 4.6).
• Among child and youth victims, the most common motive for family‑related homicide over the past decade was frustration, anger or despair (63%). For nearly one in ten (9%) family‑related homicides against children and youth, police found no apparent motive (Table 4.7).

Police‑reported family violence against children and youth highest in Trois‑Rivières and Saguenay, lowest in Ottawa

• Similar to crime in general in 2016 (Keighley 2017), rates of family violence against children and youth were higher in the territories than in the provinces. Nunavut had the highest rate of police‑reported family violence (1,480 per 100,000 population), followed by the Northwest Territories (876) and Yukon (564). In the provinces, the rate of family violence against children and youth was highest in Saskatchewan (466) and lowest in Ontario (160) (Table 4.8).
• Among Canada’s largest cities (census metropolitan areas or CMAs), Trois‑Rivières and Saguenay reported the highest rates of police‑reported family violence against children and youth (459 and 423, respectively), while Ottawa reported the lowest (96). Overall, the rate of family violence against children and youth was lower in the CMAs (178) than in non‑CMAs (361) (Table 4.9).
• Female children and youth had higher rates of family violence than their male counterparts in all CMAs with three exceptions: rates were equal in St. John’s (both 153), and higher for males in Guelph (163) and Saint John (175) compared to females (152 and 167, respectively) (Table 4.9).

Most types of police‑reported family‑related physical, sexual assault against children and youth decrease

• Between 2011 and 2016, common physical assault (level 1) was the most common type of police‑reported family violence against children and youth, despite an overall rate decrease of 18% over the same time period. The rate of common assault related to family violence decreased by 25% for female children and youth and 12% for their male counterparts (Table 4.10).
• In 2016, sexual assault (level 1) accounted for nearly all (99%) family‑related sexual assault against children and youth. The rate of family‑related sexual assault (level 1) against children and youth overall declined by more than one‑third (-37%) between 2011 and 2016 (Table 4.10). It should be noted that this decline is likely impacted by recent changes to legislation.^Note 
• From 2011 to 2016, rates of family‑related sexual assault (level 1) against children and youth remained between four and five times higher among female victims (Table 4.10).

Two in three persons accused of family‑related homicide against children and youth are male

• In 2016, seven in ten (69%) females accused of police‑reported family violence^Note  against children and youth were a parent to their victim, while five in ten (49%) males accused were a parent. Male accused were more commonly a sibling (21%) or another type of family member (other than a parent, sibling or spouse) (25%) than female accused (13% and 18%, respectively) (Table 4.11).
• Incidents of family violence against children and youth were more commonly cleared by charge where the accused was male, regardless of age group. The largest difference was for accused aged 65 and older, where 65% of male accused were cleared by charge compared to 39% of female accused (Table 4.12).
• Between 2006 and 2016, the large majority (79%) of those accused of family‑related homicide against children and youth were aged 18 to 44. Around two in three (66%) of all accused were male. In general, frustration, anger or despair was the most common motive across various age groups for both female and male accused. There was, however, one exception: equal proportions of female accused aged 17 and younger were motivated by concealment^Note  and frustration, anger or despair (both 40%) (Table 4.13).

Detailed data tables

Table 4.1 Victims of police‑reported violent crime, by age group of victim and type of violation, Canada, 2016

Table 4.2 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by age group of victim and relationship of accused to victim, Canada, 2016

Table 4.3 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by sex of victim and age of victim, Canada, 2016

Table 4.4 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by sex of victim and type of clearance status, Canada, 2016

Table 4.5 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by sex of victim and type of violation, Canada, 2016

Table 4.6 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of family‑related homicide, by age group of victim and cause of death, Canada, 2006 to 2016

Table 4.7 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of family‑related homicide, by age group of victim and type of motive, Canada, 2006 to 2016

Table 4.8 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by sex of victim and province or territory, 2016

Table 4.9 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence, by sex of victim and census metropolitan area, 2016

Table 4.10 Child and youth victims (0 to 17 years) of police‑reported family violence for selected violent violations, by sex of victim and type of violation, Canada, 2009 to 2016

Table 4.11 Accused of police‑reported family violence against children and youth (0 to 17 years), by sex of accused and relationship of accused to victim, Canada, 2016

Table 4.12 Accused of police‑reported family violence against children and youth (0 to 17 years), by age group of accused, sex of accused and type of clearance status, Canada, 2016

Table 4.13 Accused of family‑related homicide against children and youth (0 to 17 years), by age group of accused, sex of accused and type of motive, Canada, 2006 to 2016

References

Burczycka, M. and S. Conroy. 2017. “Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2015.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85‑002‑X.

Keighley, K. 2017. “Police‑reported crime statistics in Canada, 2016.” Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85‑002‑X.

Kuoppamäki, S‑M., J. Kaariainen and N. Ellonen. 2011. “Physical violence against children reported to the police: Discrepancies between register‑based data and child victim survey.” Violence and Victims. Vol. 26, no. 2. p. 257‑268.

Ogrodnik, L. 2010. “Child and youth victims of police‑reported violence crime, 2008.” Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Profile Series. No. 23. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85F0033M.

Public Health Agency of Canada. 2016. The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2016 – A Focus on Family Violence in Canada. ISSN no. 1924‑7087.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 2012. “The effects of family violence on children: Where does it hurt?” ISBN no. 978‑1‑100‑54296‑6.

United Nations. 2006. World Report on Violence Against Children. Geneva. United Nations Publishing Services.

World Health Organization. 2016. “Child maltreatment.” Fact Sheet. No. 150. (accessed October 5, 2017).

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