Table 3
Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported sexual assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019

Table 3
Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported sexual assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019 Table summary
This table displays the results of Decisions and outcomes of adult criminal court cases linked to police-reported sexual assault, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019. The information is grouped by Selected characteristic (appearing as row headers), 2015 to 20191, Sentenced to custody, 2010 to 20141, Guilty decision and Completed court cases, calculated using median length4, number, percent and percent3 units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Selected characteristic Table 3 Note 2 2010 to 2014 Table 3 Note 1 2015 to 2019 Table 3 Note 1
Completed court cases Guilty decision Sentenced to custody Completed court cases Guilty decision Sentenced to custody
number number percent number percent Table 3 Note 3 median length Table 3 Note 4 number number percent number percent Table 3 Note 3 median length Table 3 Note 4
Note 1

The time periods represent the year in which the incident was reported to police and not necessarily the time period during which the case was completed. The data file used for analysis includes all completed court cases between 2009/2010 and 2021/2022. Completed court cases may not have proceeded with the same charges (i.e., sexual assault) that were initially laid or recommended by police.

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Note 2

Characteristics are based on what was reported by police. Since one court case can be linked to multiple victims and incidents, the characteristics presented in this table reflect all court cases where at least one charge was successfully linked to an incident of police-reported sexual assault. As a result, there can be overlap between categories as the same victim or incident may have linked to more than one court case, or one court case may have linked to more than one incident or victim.

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Note 3

The percent calculation excludes cases that resulted in a decision of guilt, but where sentencing detail was unknown.

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Note 4

Length in days. Excludes indeterminate sentences and sentences of unknown length. Excludes sentences of 0 days, which may reflect remaining time in sentenced custody after credit for pre-trial time served, or may be a sentence of unknown length. The median represents the midpoint of all sentences once sorted from lowest to highest.

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Note 5

Victims and accused persons older than 110 years were coded as unknown due to possible instances of miscoding of unknown age within this age category, as were certain victims whose age was reported as 80 and older, but were identified as possible instances of miscoding.

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Note 6

Includes current and former legally married spouses, common-law partners and dating partners (i.e., boyfriends, girlfriends), and other intimate partners (e.g., one-night stands). Victims of spousal violence include those aged 15 and older, and victims of dating violence include those aged 12 and older.

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Note 7

Includes biological, step, adoptive and foster parents.

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Note 8

Includes all other family members related by blood, marriage (including common-law) or adoption (e.g., siblings, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and in-laws).

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Note 9

Includes neighbours, roommates, authority figures, reverse authority figures (e.g., student-to-teacher, patient-to-doctor), business relationships and criminal relationships (i.e., relationships based on illegal activities).

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Note 10

An urban area is defined as a census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA). A CMA consists of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a major urban core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more live in the urban core. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows derived from census data. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000. Rural areas are all areas outside of CMAs and CAs. The Provincial South includes Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the southern regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Provincial North and Territories includes the northern regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Territories.

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Note 11

Based on the end date of an incident and the date it was reported to police.

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Note 12

Reflects the charges laid by police and not necessarily how the charges were processed in court.

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Note 13

Includes injuries that required no professional medical treatment or only some first aid (e.g., bandage, ice), or those that required professional medical attention at the scene or transportation to a medical facility.

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Note: Includes cases completed in adult criminal court only, due to fundamental differences in approach and sentencing between adult and youth courts.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and Integrated Criminal Courts Survey (linked file).
Gender of victim  
At least one victim in the incident was a woman or girl 19,056 9,912 52 5,325 59 180 17,995 8,720 48 4,066 51 180
At least one victim in the incident was a man or boy 2,011 1,103 55 645 64 300 1,385 713 51 366 56 273
Age group of victim  
Incident involved a child victim (11 years and younger) 2,732 1,515 55 1,063 77 360 979 509 52 355 79 365
Incident involved a youth victim (12 to 17 years) 6,425 3,658 57 2,288 69 180 3,366 1,813 54 1,091 67 270
Incident involved an adult victim (18 to 64 years) 11,678 5,713 49 2,560 49 180 14,727 6,971 47 2,924 46 180
Incident had a senior victim (65 years and older) Table 3 Note 5 185 91 49 41 48 180 295 130 44 53 43 180
Accused–victim relationship  
Incident involved intimate partner violence Table 3 Note 6 3,716 1,817 49 828 50 120 4,834 2,145 44 927 47 150
Incident involved a parent Table 3 Note 7 2,029 1,073 53 761 79 425 896 466 52 315 76 402
Incident involved another family member Table 3 Note 8 2,806 1,609 57 1,023 70 360 1,583 832 53 490 68 365
Incident involved a friend or casual acquaintance 6,732 3,431 51 1,901 61 180 6,126 2,821 46 1,361 54 270
Incident involved another person known to the victim Table 3 Note 9 2,319 1,116 48 558 54 180 2,257 1,097 49 460 46 272
Incident involved a stranger 3,487 1,975 57 900 49 112 3,695 2,076 56 880 45 90
Geography Table 3 Note 10  
Incident occurred in an urban area 13,479 6,777 50 3,519 57 180 12,953 6,118 47 2,737 49 180
Incident occurred in a rural area 5,575 3,025 54 1,767 63 210 4,804 2,354 49 1,158 54 240
Incident occurred in the provincial South 15,313 7,790 51 4,170 58 180 14,385 6,837 48 3,147 50 180
Incident occurred in the provincial North or territories 3,741 2,012 54 1,116 62 180 3,372 1,635 48 748 53 180
Delay in reporting Table 3 Note 11  
Same or next day 12,269 6,633 54 3,389 56 165 11,941 6,106 51 2,713 49 150
2 to 7 days 2,016 991 49 552 59 180 1,992 844 42 374 48 225
8 to 30 days 1,204 559 46 306 59 204 1,121 457 41 193 47 270
31 to 365 days 1,609 729 45 457 67 270 1,463 539 37 282 58 285
More than one year 1,743 777 45 518 73 537 1,134 476 42 301 68 522
Level Table 3 Note 12  
Sexual assault (level 1) 18,256 9,381 51 5,014 58 180 16,942 8,081 48 3,665 50 180
Sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm (level 2) 585 313 54 202 70 540 617 290 47 161 60 407
Aggravated sexual assault (level 3) 213 108 51 70 77 648 198 101 51 69 78 678
Injury  
Incident resulted in minor or major physical injury Table 3 Note 13 5,426 2,739 50 1,518 61 270 5,828 2,658 46 1,254 52 201
Incident did not result in physical injury 13,484 7,137 53 3,814 58 180 11,937 5,921 50 2,716 50 180
Location  
Incident happened in a private residence 13,785 7,058 51 4,071 63 240 12,458 5,688 46 2,772 54 260
Incident happened in an open area, public transit, street, road, or highway 2,448 1,350 55 653 52 91 2,442 1,300 53 579 48 90
Incident occurred in another non-residential location 2,443 1,189 49 448 41 90 2,680 1,389 52 495 38 90
Gender of accused  
Accused was a woman or girl 356 163 46 69 46 120 377 166 44 50 32 120
Accused was a man or boy 18,662 9,623 52 5,209 59 180 17,364 8,299 48 3,843 51 180
Age group of accused  
12 to 17 years 51 6 12 2 50 500 35 5 14 1 25 10
18 to 24 years 4,133 2,312 56 1,224 58 180 3,706 1,803 49 841 50 180
25 to 44 years 9,093 4,629 51 2,583 60 195 8,726 4,148 48 2,034 54 180
45 to 64 years 4,794 2,378 50 1,280 59 180 4,291 2,072 48 860 46 180
65 years and older Table 3 Note 5 983 477 49 197 46 150 999 444 44 159 38 180
Total 19,054 9,802 51 5,286 59 180 17,757 8,472 48 3,895 50 180
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