Fact sheet: Family violence against older adults

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This section examines police-reported violent crimes (physical assault, sexual assault, robbery, criminal harassment, uttering threats, and other violent violations) committed by family members against seniors (aged 65 years and older) in 2006.

Incidents of violent crime against seniors are reported by a subset of 149 police services to the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) survey. This subset of police forces represented approximately 90% of the population of Canada in 2006.

Police-reported violence represents only a portion of the violence committed against seniors in Canada since not all incidents are reported to the police, and police do not capture data on emotional or psychological abuse perpetrated against seniors. For additional information on seniors as victims of property or household crimes, and seniors’ feelings of personal safety, refer to Ogrodnik (2007).

Seniors least likely age group to be victimized

Police-reported data have consistently shown that persons 65 years of age and over are the least likely age group to be victimized. In 2006, there were 6,033 police-reported incidents of violence committed against seniors, which gives a rate of 149 incidents for every 100,000 seniors. This rate was 16 times lower than the rate for 15 to 24 year olds, the age group at highest risk of victimization (2,395 per 100,000) (Chart 3.1).

Notes: Data are not nationally representative. Based on a subset of 149 police services representing approximately 90% of the population of Canada in 2006. Hamilton Police Service is excluded from the analysis due to data quality of the relationship variable. Excludes unknown sex and includes all relationships.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey.

Similar to victims of crime in general, senior victims were more likely to report being victimized by someone they knew (83 per 100,000) than by a stranger (40 per 100,000). Among perpetrators known to senior victims, friends or acquaintances were the most common (34 per 100,000) (Table 3.1).

Senior victims of family violence were most likely to report being victimized by an adult child (14 per 100,000) or current or former spouse (13 per 100,000). In comparison, persons under 65 years of age were most often victimized by their spouse, followed by a parent or extended family member (Table 3.1, Chart 3.2).

1. Extended family includes aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters/brothers-in-law, etc.
Note: Data are not nationally representative. Based on data from 149 police services representing approximately 90% of the population of Canada in 2006. Hamilton Police Service is excluded from the analysis due to data quality of the relationship variable. Excludes incidents where the victim’s sex, age and/or relationship of the accused to the victim was unknown.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey.

The rate of police-reported family violence against seniors was 43 incidents for every 100,000 persons aged 65 years and over. While the overall rates of violence against seniors were higher for senior men (150 versus 103 for senior women), rates of family violence were higher for senior women (47 versus 37 per 100,000) (Table 3.1).

Older seniors (aged 85 years and over) were less likely to report being victims of family violence (20 per 100,000) compared to younger seniors aged 75 to 84 years of age (35 per 100,000) and 65 to 74 years of age (53 per 100,000) (Chart 3.3).

1. Includes friends, boy/girlfriends, ex-boy/girlfriends, authority figures and casual acquaintances.
Note: Data are not nationally representative. Based on a subset of 149 police services representing approximately 90% of the population of Canada in 2006. Hamilton Police Service is excluded from the analysis due to data quality of the relationship variable. Excludes incidents where the sex and/or the age of the victim was unknown.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey.

Common assault most frequently committed violent offence against senior victims

Common assault (level 1, the least serious type of assault) was the most frequently reported violent offence against seniors (49 per 100,000), followed by uttering threats (23 per 100,000) and robbery (20 per 100,000). Rates of violence against seniors were lower when the violence was committed by a family member compared to a non-family member (43 versus 81 per 100,000) (Table 3.2).

Police-reported data show that over half of violent incidents committed against seniors do not result in physical injury to the victim (58%), whether perpetrated by a family or non-family member (54% versus 60%). When physical injuries are sustained, they are generally minor in nature resulting from the aggressor’s use of physical force. There was little difference between male and female senior victims in the level of injury sustained due to family violence (Table 3.3).

Senior women were more likely to be harmed by physical force than senior men (81% versus 73%), while senior men were more likely to be injured by a weapon (21% versus 13%) (Table 3.4).