Table 15
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months who did or did not speak to someone about their experience, by reasons for and against doing so, and gender, 2019


Table 15
Students at Canadian postsecondary schools who were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in the past 12 months who did or did not speak to someone about their experience, by reasons for and against doing so, 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 who did or did not speak to someone about their experience. The information is grouped by Who students spoke to and reasons for and against doing so (appearing as row headers), Men, Women, percent and 95% confidence interval, calculated using from and to units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Who students spoke to and reasons for and against doing so MenTable 15 Note † Women
percent 95% confidence interval percent 95% confidence interval
from to from to
Reported to police
Yes Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 2.6 1.5 4.3
No Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 96.6 94.7 97.9
Reasons for not reporting to police
Too emotionally difficult 7.4 4.1 13.2 15.7Note * 12.9 19.0
Wouldn't be kept confidential 6.3 3.5 11.3 10.4 8.1 13.2
Did not need help 54.8 46.8 62.6 53.3 49.4 57.1
Worried wouldn't be believed 13.2 8.8 19.5 18.7 15.7 22.3
Did not want the person responsible to be hurt or get in trouble 21.2 15.7 28.0 18.6 15.6 22.0
Would be too hard to prove 15.0 10.3 21.4 24.7Note * 21.4 28.4
Too scared or frightened Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 15.7 12.9 19.0
Did not want anyone to know 15.8 10.9 22.5 28.6Note * 25.0 32.3
Did not want to get in trouble 10.0 6.5 15.2 15.9Note * 13.2 19.1
Did not want to involve the police 31.4 24.8 39.0 49.0Note * 45.0 53.0
Police wouldn't take it seriously 19.6 14.3 26.2 26.7Note * 23.2 30.5
Was not serious enough 65.4 57.8 72.4 67.2 63.3 70.8
Were embarrassed or ashamed 16.5 11.4 23.3 24.3Note * 21.0 28.0
Hadn't had a good experience with police previously 11.3 7.1 17.6 6.4 4.6 8.8
Other reasons 15.1 10.3 21.6 11.8 9.5 14.7
Spoke to someone associated with the school
Yes 5.7 3.0 10.4 7.9 6.0 10.5
Reasons for speaking to someone
Receive accommodations Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 33.8 21.3 49.1
Receive mental health support Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 65.4 50.2 77.9
Receive protection Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 29.8 17.9 45.4
Pursue an informal resolution, e.g. mediation Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable
Pursue formal action, e.g. charges Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 19.2 10.0 33.6
Other reasons (includes medical attention) Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable
No 96.4 92.7 98.3 94.1 91.8 95.8
Reasons for not speaking to someone
Didn't know who at school could provide help 11.2 7.1 17.2 15.4 12.6 18.7
Didn't know where to go to get help at school 8.2 5.0 13.3 13.8Note * 11.2 16.9
Didn't know if this type of incident could be reported 11.9 7.7 18.1 18.7Note * 15.6 22.2
Felt embarrassed or ashamed 13.8 9.2 20.2 19.1 16.0 22.6
Too emotionally difficult 6.2 3.3 11.2 12.5Note * 9.9 15.6
Wouldn't be kept confidential 10.1 6.2 16.0 10.4 8.1 13.2
Did not need help 54.0 46.4 61.5 51.5 47.4 55.5
Was not serious enough 60.9 53.3 68.1 59.2 55.2 63.2
Resolved the issue on their own 45.2 37.8 52.7 38.6 34.6 42.7
Worried wouldn't be believed 12.8 8.5 18.8 12.8 10.2 16.0
School wouldn't take it seriously 11.6 7.5 17.4 18.9Note * 15.9 22.4
Did not want the person responsible to be hurt or get in trouble 15.0 10.3 21.1 13.2 10.7 16.2
Would be too hard to prove 8.6 5.1 14.0 18.3Note * 15.2 21.8
Too scared or frightened Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 10.6 8.3 13.5
Did not want anyone to know 14.3 9.7 20.5 22.5Note * 19.2 26.1
Did not want to get in trouble 7.2 4.1 12.2 11.7 9.2 14.8
Felt studies or future career would be at risk Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 5.5 3.8 7.9
Other reasons 14.7 9.9 21.4 11.9 9.4 14.8
Spoke to someone else
Yes 48.2 40.7 55.7 69.8Note * 65.9 73.5
Friend 89.3 80.1 94.6 90.3 87.1 92.9
Family 24.5 16.3 35.0 32.0 27.6 36.7
Current or former spouse or dating partner 23.2 15.0 34.2 28.3 24.0 33.0
Another student or peer 21.8 14.2 32.0 20.6 17.0 24.8
Crisis line or mental health professional Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 10.7 8.1 13.9
Doctor or nurse Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable 3.3 2.0 5.6
OtherTable 15 Note 1 Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable Note F: too unreliable to be published Note ...: not applicable Note ...: not applicable
No 57.0 49.4 64.3 37.0Note * 33.1 41.2
... 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 police, support provided in the workplace, and other unspecified people.

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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 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.
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