Table 8
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who personally experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months, by incident characteristics and type of behaviour, 2019


Table 8
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who personally experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months, by incident characteristics and type of behaviour, 2019
Table summary
This table displays the results of Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who personally experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months. The information is grouped by Incident characteristics (appearing as row headers), Inappropriate  verbal or non-verbal communication, Sexually explicit materials, Unwanted physical contact or suggested sexual relations, percent and 95% confidence interval, calculated using from and to units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Incident characteristics Inappropriate verbal or non-verbal communicationTable 8 Note 1 Sexually explicit materialsTable 8 Note 2 Unwanted physical contact or suggested sexual relationsTable 8 Note 3
percent 95% confidence interval percent 95% confidence interval percent 95% confidence interval
from to from to from to
Number of perpetrators
Always oneTable 8 Note † 32.0 30.5 33.6 44.1 40.3 48.0 62.2 59.9 64.4
Always two or more 27.8Note * 26.4 29.3 26.0Note * 22.8 29.4 15.2Note * 13.6 16.8
It varied 25.7Note * 24.3 27.2 16.7Note * 14.0 19.7 13.4Note * 11.9 15.0
Don't know 14.3Note * 13.2 15.5 12.5Note * 10.2 15.1 8.6Note * 7.4 9.9
Gender of perpetrators
Always men onlyTable 8 Note † 54.5 53.0 56.1 56.3 52.6 59.9 69.3 67.3 71.3
Always women only 8.2Note * 7.3 9.1 16.4Note * 13.8 19.4 14.0Note * 12.6 15.5
Sometimes men, sometimes women 34.0Note * 32.5 35.5 19.8Note * 16.9 23.1 12.3Note * 10.9 13.8
Don't know 3.2Note * 2.7 3.8 6.5Note * 4.8 8.7 3.7Note * 2.9 4.7
Bystanders present
Yes, in at least one instanceTable 8 Note † 73.9 72.4 75.2 40.2 36.7 43.9 65.3 63.1 67.5
Never 19.4Note * 18.1 20.7 47.7Note * 44.1 51.5 27.3Note * 25.3 29.3
Don't know 6.6Note * 5.9 7.5 10.7Note * 8.6 13.2 6.6Note * 5.6 7.9
Bystanders took action
Yes, in at least one instanceTable 8 Note † 35.1 33.3 36.9 33.9 28.4 39.9 30.1 27.5 32.7
Never 59.4Note * 57.6 61.3 58.9Note * 52.8 64.7 65.8Note * 63.1 68.3
Don't know 5.3Note * 4.5 6.3 6.7Note * 4.4 10.2 4.1Note * 3.1 5.3
Type of bystander action
Separated those involved 34.7 31.7 37.8 24.1 16.4 34.0 53.0 48.1 57.9
Asked if needed help 45.4 42.2 48.6 36.9 27.3 47.6 51.1 45.8 56.4
Confronted the perpetrator 53.2 49.9 56.5 58.7 48.0 68.6 49.9 44.7 55.2
Created a distraction 45.7 42.6 49.0 32.4 23.3 43.1 42.2 37.3 47.3
Ask others to step in 12.2 10.3 14.5 12.8 6.8 22.7 17.6 14.1 21.9
Tell someone in authority 6.9 5.4 8.8 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 10.0 7.2 13.7
Encourage the behaviour 17.2 14.9 19.9 24.6 16.3 35.4 6.9 4.7 9.9
Something else 14.4 12.3 16.8 16.8 10.2 26.6 11.2 8.3 14.9
Relationship of perpetrator
Student at their school 81.3 80.0 82.5 65.7 62.0 69.2 69.8 67.7 71.8
Friend or acquaintance 51.3 49.7 53.0 44.5 40.8 48.2 36.3 34.2 38.5
Stranger 32.7 31.2 34.3 25.2 22.0 28.6 31.5 29.4 33.7
Student at another school 18.5 17.3 19.8 29.2 25.8 32.7 16.5 14.9 18.3
Dating partner or spouse (current or former)Table 8 Note 4 10.1 9.2 11.1 14.3 11.9 17.1 5.9 4.9 7.0
Casual dating partner (current or former)Table 8 Note 5 8.2 7.3 9.2 14.6 12.2 17.4 7.2 6.1 8.4
Member of a club or team to which they belong 6.6 5.8 7.4 5.8 4.2 7.8 4.1 3.3 5.1
Co-worker at a co-op, internship, volunteer position or paid on-campus employment 3.5 2.9 4.2 1.7 0.9 3.1 2.5 1.8 3.3
Professor or instructor at their school 3.5 2.9 4.1 1.4 0.7 2.8 3.2 2.5 4.1
Staff member (including security personnel) 1.6 1.2 2.1 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 1.4 0.9 2.0
Teaching assistant at their school 1.5 1.1 2.0 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 1.1 0.8 1.7
Supervisor or boss at a co-op, internship or paid on-campus employment 1.2 0.9 1.6 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 1.7 1.2 2.5
Married or common-law spouse (current or former) 0.9 0.7 1.3 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable ....
Coach or trainer 0.4 0.2 0.7 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable ....
OtherTable 8 Note 6 5.2 4.4 6.0 4.2 3.0 5.9 4.8 3.9 5.8
Don't know 4.1 3.5 4.8 5.3 3.8 7.4 4.9 3.9 6.0
... not applicable
F too unreliable to be published
Note *

significantly different from reference category (p < 0.05)

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Note †

reference category

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Note 1

Includes sexual jokes, unwanted sexual attention, inappropriate sexual comments, and inappropriate discussion about sex life.

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Note 2

Includes displaying, showing or sending sexually explicit messages or materials and taking or posting inappropriate or sexually suggestive photos or videos of any student without consent.

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Note 3

Includes indecent exposure or inappropriate display of body parts in a sexual manner, repeated pressure from the same person for dates or sexual relationships, unwelcome physical contact or getting too close, and offering workplace benefits for engaging in sexual activity or being mistreated for not engaging in sexual activity.

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Note 4

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.

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Note 5

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.

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Note 6

Includes private tutors and other unspecified persons.

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Note: Includes postsecondary students aged 18 to 24 (17 to 24 in Quebec) as of December 31, 2018 in the Canadian provinces who experienced (targeted, directed at them personally) unwanted sexualized behaviours in the past 12 months. Includes behaviours which occurred in the postsecondary setting, including on campus, 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) or online (where some or all of the people responsible were students, teachers or other people associated with the school). Excludes behaviours that respondents heard about from someone else (e.g., something that a friend confided in them). 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.
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