National Statistics:

• Eighty-four percent of Canadians who reported being sexually assaulted in the 12 months prior to the survey were women, while 16 percent were men (2004 General Social Survey (GSS)).
• The largest proportions of victims of sexual assault are young; Forty-four percent of victims are under the age of 25.
• In Canada there are on average 65 reports of sexual assault a day (Stats Can, 2005). According to this figure that means a sexual assault occurs every 22 minutes in Canada.
• Stats Can reports that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually assaulted before the age of 16.
• 89% of sexual assault victims have no physical injuries (StatsCan, 1993).
• Girls are targets of abuse within the family more so than boys. Four out of five victims of family-related sexual assaults (79%) are girls, and over half (55%) of physical assaults of children by family members are against girls (StatsCan, 1999. Family Violence in Canada).
• Females are the primary victims of family-related sexual abuse. Female victims’ risk increases with age, with it peaking at age 14. Incidence rates are 160 per 100,00 according to Statistics Canada (Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile).
• Commonly used stats state that between 1 in 2 to 1 in 4 females are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. We are talking about upwards of 12.5 % to 25% of the world population. This is a reality that disproportionately affects women’s lives.
• Ninety-one percent of those accused of sexual assault were male.
• Most perpetrators are young. 54% of sex offenders were aged 18-34. (StatsCan, 2004).
• The profile of sex offenders, overwhelmingly represent the average male. The vast majority are white (71.9%) & Canadian born (63%). (Ontario Women’s Directorate (1992). Sexual Assault: The Reality).
• 88% of perpetrators of sexual assaults against males are heterosexual. (Hodge and Canter, 1998).
• Eighty-eight percent of sexual assaults in Canada do not get reported to police. In comparison to other forms of violent victimization, victims of sexual assault are much less likely to report the crime to police.
• Sexual assault is one of the most under-reported crimes. Fewer than 10% of sexual assaults were reported to the police(StatsCan, 2006).
• Only 1% of date rapes are reported (Ontario Women's Directorate).
• 90% of sexual assault victims/survivors did not seek support from the criminal justice system (StatsCan, 2006).
• False reporting for sexual assaults is no higher than any other crime. The rate of ’false reports’ for crimes is no more than 2% to 3% (Schafran, 1993).
• The 2004 GSS indicates that rates of overall violent victimization are
  significantly higher among the Aboriginal population (319 versus 101 people per 1,000 population) and that Aboriginal women, in particular, are at high risk of victimization with rates that are three and a half times higher than that of non-Aboriginal women.
• Rates of sexual assault and other violent crimes are higher on reserves than in other areas of Canada (StatsCan, 2006). In the last 20 years, 500 Indigenous women have disappeared (CASAC, 2005).
• 83% of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime (METRAC, 2001).
• The risk for sexual assault is four times higher for women aged 16-24 than any other population group (Warsaw, 1988).

Provincial Statistics:

• 31,000 Nova Scotians indicated that they were victims of sexual assault in 2004. In that year, Nova Scotia’s rate of sexual assault was 40 per 1,000 population aged 15 and over.
• Nova Scotia’s rate of sexual assault was 40 per 1,000 in 2004, while the national average was 21 per 1,000. The national rate has remained consistent while this 2004 figure identifies a significant increase from 1999.
• In Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) there is on average a sexual assault reported everyday. (HRP 2006).
• The province cites a total of 775 sexual offences in 2005. Statistics Canada concludes that only 8% of sexual assaults are reported, increasing the total occurrence of sexual assault in Nova Scotia to 9687.
• Nova Scotia’s rate of sexual assault was 40 per 1,000 for those aged 15 and over in 2004. The national average was 21 per 1,000.
• Nova Scotia has the highest rate of sexual assault per capita in Canada.
• In 2006, 867 sexual offences were reported to police in Nova Scotia. These comprised 8.2 percent of all violent offences reported to police in the province.
• Nova Scotia’s rate of police-reported sexual assaults in 2006 was 82 per 100,000 population. The rate for Canada was 68 per 100,000 population.
• In close to 70 percent of cases reported to Halifax Regional Police in 2006, victims of sexual offences knew the accused. The accused was a stranger in 26 percent of such cases.
• In 2006, 32 percent of reported sexual assaults in Nova Scotia resulted in the laying of a charge against the accused, down from 56 percent in 1993.
• In comparison, the proportion of other violent offences that resulted in the
  laying of a charge remained relatively stable during this period, averaging around 42 percent.
• In 2006, the proportion of sexual assaults that result in the laying of a charge was lower in Nova Scotia than in all other provinces and territories.
• Conviction rates for sexual assault are typically lower than they are for other violent offences. In 2005/06, the conviction rate for sexual assaults in Nova Scotia was 38.6 percent, while for other violent offences it was 49.5 percent.
• Acquittal rates for sexual assaults in Nova Scotia have consistently been higher than acquittal rates for other violent offences. In 2005/06, the acquittal rate for sexual assaults was 14.9 percent. For other violent offences it was 5.8 percent.
• The General Social Survey by Juristat Canada notes that only 8% of sexual assaults are reported. In 2004, 886 sexual offences were reported to police in Nova Scotia (Sexual Assault in Nova Scotia: A Statistical Profile, 2005). According to this figure, the actual total of provincial sexual offences is 11075. This deserves attention.
• In 2004 the rate of police-reported sexual assault in Nova Scotia was 88 per 100,000. Remember, this figure represents less than 10% of actual cases and therefore is closer to 900 per 100,000.
• Nova Scotia has the second lowest national rate of laying charges next to PEI.
• Rates of reporting are highest in Cape Breton and lowest in the Annapolis Valley Region. Per capita, Cape Breton has the highest rate of sexual assault at 105 per 100,000 while the HRM had 92 and the Annapolis Valley 64, with the provincial average being 88.
• Provincial rates of laying charges in sexual assault cases differ drastically between regions. HRM is at 19% while 65% of reported assaults in the Southwest region result in charges being laid.
• The vast majority (68%) of reported sexual assaults in the province were committed by individuals known to the victim, while 32% were committed by strangers.
• According to the Nova Scotia Sexual Offender Registry Program, in 2008 there were 490 registered sexual offenders in Nova Scotia. Forty percent of them are located in HRM. There are also 44 more sexual offenders currently incarcerated in Provincial jails or Federal penitentiaries.
• Currently Nova Scotia only has two Sexual Assault Centres and limited services & supports for victims & offenders.
• The Avalon SANE program attended to 130 immediate (within 72 hours) in 2009/2010, 108 in 2008/9 and 113 in 2007/8.
• In 2009/10 124 of the clients treated were female.
• An average of 17% of SANE cases had date rape drugs suspected.
• More than 75% of the clients seen by SANE Program in 2009/10 were between the ages of 13-25.
• In 2009/10 the SANE Program saw an increase in young women ages 13-15