Statistics
on Young Women and Violence
Women
under 25 years of age
make
up the highest risk group related to
violence, especially if they try to leave an
abusive relationship. Young women are at the
greatest risk of assault by intimate
partners, as well as spousal homicide and
sexual assault.
(Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers
Responsible for the Status of Women, 2002,
Assessing Violence Against Women: A
Statistical Profile, ISBN 0-662-33166-4)
In
a study, over 49 percent of female students
in high school had
been emotionally abused, 14.5 percent
reported being physically forced into sex,
and 9.1 percent had been physically
assaulted. (DeKeseredy, WS, and Schwartz,
MD, February 1998, Measuring the Extent of
Woman Abuse in Intimate Heterosexual
Relationships: A Critique of the Conflict
Tactics Scales, National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence)
Almost
80 percent of high-school students surveyed
continued
to date their abusive partners after
experiencing violence. In almost half of
these cases, the violence continued. Only 22
percent of the students disclosed that they
had been abused and the vast majority of
them told only their peers. (Bergman, L,
1992, “Dating violence among high school
students,” Social Work, 37(1): 21-27)
A
recent City of Toronto survey shows
that
female youth regard physical assault,
discrimination, harassment and sexual gender
issues as three of the top four factors
impacting their personal sense of safety.
Further, the study shows that young women
require approaches and programs that are
responsive to their unique needs and ways of
relating. (Youth Safety Survey Project,
2002, Speak Up: Toronto Youth Talk about
Safety in Their Community, Toronto ON: City
of Toronto)
Girls
and women between the ages of 16 and 24 are
the most vulnerable to domestic violence,
experiencing the highest per capita rates of
non-fatal intimate partner violence. (US
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, 2001, “Intimate partner
violence and age of victim, 1993-1999.”)
One-third
of teens report experiencing some kind of
abuse in
their romantic relationships, including
verbal and emotional abuse. (Tucker Halpern,
C, et al, 2001, “Partner violence among
adolescents in opposite-sex romantic
relationships: findings from the national
longitudinal study of adolescent health,”
American Journal of Public Health, 91:
1680.)
Approximately
one in five adolescent girls report
being physically or sexually hurt by a
dating partner. (Silverman, JG, et al, 2001,
“Dating violence against adolescent girls
and associated substance use, unhealthy
weight control, sexual risk behavior,
pregnancy, and suicidality,” Journal of
the American Medical Association, 286: 572.)
Forty
percent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 report
knowing someone their age who has been hit
or beaten by a boyfriend. (Children
Now/Kaiser Permanente, 1995, National Poll
on Kids Health and Safety.)
Twenty-six
percent of girls in grades 9 to 12 have
been the victim of physical abuse, sexual
abuse, or date rape. (Schoen, C, et al,
November 1997, “The Commonwealth Fund
Survey for the Health of Adolescent
Girls.”)
From
the Public Health Agency of Canada (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca):
Recent
research on Canadian university and college
campuses found
between 16 and 35 percent of women surveyed
had experienced at least one physical or
sexual assault by a boyfriend in the
previous 12 months. Approximately 45 percent
of the women surveyed reported they had been
sexually abused since leaving high school.
Recent
qualitative research with a sample of 13- to
17-year-old girlfriend
abusers suggests that youth violence against
female dating partners is an issue in
primary and high schools.
From
the University of Alberta report, “Sexual
Assault and the Law in Canada” (www.ualberta.ca/dept/health/public_html/healthinfo/sacan.htm):
More
than 80 percent of rapes on university and
college campuses are committed by
someone the victim knows, and 50 percent
occur on dates. Many of these assaults
happen during the first eight weeks of
classes.
Fifteen
to 30 percent of university women experience
acquaintance rape.
False
accusations of rape happen no more often than
false reports of other types of crime: about
2 to 4 percent, which means that 96 to 98
percent of reports are true.
Rates
of stalking are highest for young women,
which
is consistent with patterns of other kinds
of violence against women; 58 percent of
stalking survivors are under 34 years old.
(Statistics Canada, 2004, Family Violence in
Canada: A Statistical Profile, pp. 9, 15.)
Compiled
by EWA’s Young Women’s Program.
