Nunavut leads nation in violence, sexual assault

A new survey confirms that Nunavut, by wide margins, leads the nation in family violence, sexual assault and crime victimization.

More than one in every five – or 22 per cent – of people in Nunavut aged 15 and over was likely a victim of family violence in the last 12 months, the survey found.

Done by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, the survey, issued Oct. 30 by Statistics Canada, studied the extent of crime victimization in the three northern territories.

The study confirmed that Nunavut is Canada’s leader, by a wide margin, in family violence and sexual assault, even compared with the other two territories, where violent crime rates are also higher than in the provinces.

In the Northwest Territories only 11 per cent of residents are likely to be victims of family violence, and in the Yukon, nine per cent.

Researchers found that nearly four of every 10 northern residents aged 15 and over reported being victimized by a crime at least once in the 12 months prior to their being interviewed.

They also found that northern residents are three times more likely than residents of the provinces to be victims of violent crime, especially sexual assault, robbery and physical assault.

In a companion survey issued last week, Statistics Canada also found that Nunavut residents are more likely than people anywhere else in Canada to suffer violent attacks from their spouses.

Although men were just as likely to report being attacked by their spouses as women, the survey found that women are far more likely to suffer physical injuries.

“Female victims of spousal violence in the North were twice as likely as male northerners to suffer the most severe forms of spousal violence, such as being beaten, choked, threatened with or having had a gun or knife used against them, or sexually assaulted (57 per cent compared with 23 per cent),” the survey says.

Crime statistics attached to the survey also shows the sexual assault rate in Nunavut is astronomical: about 12 times higher than the national rate.

In 2005, 470 people in Nunavut were charged with some form of sexual assault. In Newfoundland, whose population is 15 or 16 times greater than Nunavut’s, only 436 people were charged with sexual assault.

Northern residents are also far more likely to be victimized by someone they know than southern residents – 80 per cent in the North, compared with 56 per cent in the provinces.

But at the same time, the survey found that northern residents still feel safer than southern Canadians, with 54 per cent saying they are “very satisfied” with their personal safety, compared with 44 per cent in the South.

Researchers attribute the North’s higher victimization rates to a young population, higher rates of binge drinking, high rates of common-law and single-parent families, and high unemployment.