StatsCanOver two-thirds of persons who seek victim services are female

About 400,000 victims of crime sought assistance from 589 victim services agencies between April 1, 2005, and March 31, 2006, according to a new report.

These agencies reported having served about 161,000 female and 48,000 male victims. The victim's sex was not provided for the remaining 190,000 victims.

Data came from the Victim Services Survey (VSS), which enumerated a total of 830 victim service agencies and 9 criminal injuries compensation programs identified as providing formal services to victims of crime. While responses were received from 697 of these agencies, some agencies did not respond to certain questions because the information was either not applicable or not available.

Over two-thirds (68%) of victims who sought assistance on the snapshot day were female, roughly the same as in 2002/2003, when the survey was last conducted.

Among female victims who had experienced a violent crime, 53% had experienced violence by a spouse, ex-spouse or intimate partner. A further 24% had been victimized by a family member other than a spouse. The remaining 23% had experienced violence at the hands of a non-family member, such as a friend, a neighbour or a stranger.

The estimated cost of providing services to victims of crime, based on responses from 628 agencies, totaled $152.2 million in 2005/2006, excluding compensation programs.

The Juristat: "Victim Services in Canada, 2005/2006," Vol. 27, no. 7 (85-002-XIE, free) and the publication, Victim Services in Canada: National, Provincial and Territorial Fact Sheets, 2005/2006 (85-003-XWE, free), are now available from our website.