It is difficult to quantify the problem of violence against women. The majority of rapes and sexual assault are unreported and statistics fail to properly capture the magnitude of sexual assault. Femifesto’s Reporting on Sexual Assaults: A Toolkit for Canadian Media, provides Canadian statistics on sexual assault, while recognizing the limited nature of police reported statistics and the intersectional nature of sexual assault.(Femifesto. (2013). Reporting on Sexual Assault: a Toolkit for Canadian Media. pg. 40-47)
Local
- The Ottawa Police Service investigates on average 375 victims of sexual assault per year, and the vast majority of the victims are women.
- From April 2013 to March 2014, the Ottawa Hospital Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program (SAPACP) saw 212 clients who were sexually assaulted.