Table 7
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months, by incident characteristics and gender, 2019


Table 7
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months, by incident characteristics and gender, 2019
Table summary
This table displays the results of Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months. The information is grouped by Incident characteristics (appearing as row headers), Men, Women, percent and 95% confidence interval, calculated using from and to units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Incident characteristics MenTable 7 Note † Women
percent 95% confidence interval percent 95% confidence interval
from to from to
Number of perpetrators
Always oneTable 7 Note ‡ 79.3 72.7 84.6 77.2 73.8 80.3
Always two or more 6.4Note ** 3.6 11.3 5.3Note ** 3.8 7.5
It varied 5.0Note ** 2.6 9.2 9.2Note *Note ** 7.2 11.7
Don't know 6.7Note ** 3.8 11.4 6.3Note ** 4.7 8.6
Gender of perpetrators
Always men onlyTable 7 Note ‡ 18.6 13.7 24.9 89.9Note * 87.2 92.1
Always women only 63.1Note ** 55.6 70.1 2.0Note *Note ** 1.1 3.6
Sometimes men, sometimes women 12.0 7.6 18.3 3.7Note *Note ** 2.4 5.6
Don't know Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 2.9Note ** 1.8 4.6
Alcohol use by perpetrator
YesTable 7 Note ‡ 54.8 47.2 62.2 48.4 44.4 52.3
No 32.9Note ** 26.3 40.2 37.1Note ** 33.5 41.0
Don't know 11.8Note ** 7.9 17.3 13.4Note ** 10.9 16.4
Relationship of perpetrator
Student at their schoolTable 7 Note ‡ 61.1 53.4 68.3 60.1 56.2 63.9
Friend or acquaintance 32.8 26.2 40.3 35.8 31.9 39.8
Stranger 24.1 18.4 31.0 34.7Note * 31.0 38.6
Student at another school 16.0 11.3 22.2 21.8 18.6 25.3
Dating partner or married or common-law spouse (current or former)Table 7 Note 1 7.2 4.3 11.9 10.3 8.1 12.9
Casual dating partner (current or former)Table 7 Note 2 11.7 7.6 17.6 11.6 9.2 14.5
Member of a club or team to which they belong Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 3.4 2.2 5.2
Co-worker, staff member, security staff, tutor or otherTable 7 Note 3 7.9 4.6 13.3 6.4 4.8 8.6
Supervisor or boss, coach, professor or instructor at their school, teaching assistantTable 7 Note 4 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 2.0 1.1 3.6
Don't know 5.3 2.7 9.9 5.0 3.5 7.1
... not applicable
F too unreliable to be published
Note *

significantly different from reference category (†) (p < 0.05)

Return to note * referrer

Note **

significantly different from reference category (‡) (p < 0.05)

Return to note ** referrer

Note †

reference category

Return to note † referrer

Note ‡

reference category

Return to note ‡ referrer

Note 1

Dating partners include, for example, boyfriend- or girlfriend-type relationships. This type of relationship is different from a casual dating relationship, which includes (for example) "friends with benefits"-type relationships. Spouses include legally married and common-law spouses.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Casual dating partners include, for example, "friends with benefits"-type relationships. This type of relationship is different from a dating partner relationship, which includes (for example) boyfriend- or girlfriend-type relationships.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Includes co-workers and staff members associated with co-ops, internships, volunteer positions or paid on-campus employment. Also includes other persons associated with the postsecondary setting.

Return to note 3 referrer

Note 4

Includes supervisors or bosses associated with co-ops, internships, volunteer positions or paid on-campus employment.

Return to note 4 referrer

Note: Includes postsecondary students aged 18 to 24 (17 to 24 in Quebec) as of December 31, 2018 in the Canadian provinces who were sexually assaulted in the past 12 months. Includes incidents which occurred in the postsecondary setting, including on campus or off campus (if they occurred during travel to or from school, during an official or unofficial event organized by someone affiliated with the school, or during paid or unpaid employment, work placements or volunteer work associated with postsecondary studies). The categories "women" and "men" include cisgender and transgender women and men. Percent calculations are based on unrounded estimates and include missing responses. Respondents were able to provide information on multiple incidents; therefore, percentages do not add to 100. Confidence intervals should be interpreted as follows: If the survey were repeated many times, then 95% of the time (or 19 times out of 20), the confidence interval would cover the true population value.
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey on Individual Safety in the Postsecondary Student Population.
Date modified: