Inspite of the marginal decrease in reported spousal violence, Statistics Canada study still presents some staggering numbers.

Family violence accounted for about 23% of all police-reported violent crime in 2007. Of the nearly 75,800 incidents of police-reported family violence, about 40,200, or 53%, were violent incidents perpetrated by a current or former spouse or common-law partner.

Nationally, the rate of police-reported spousal violence was 188 incidents for every 100,000 population in 2007, down 15% from 1998. This decline was primarily the result of a drop in the police-reported rate of violence committed against women.

In 2007, as in previous years, women continued to represent the vast majority (83%) of victims of spousal violence.

In 2008, there were 569 shelters across Canada providing residential services to women and children escaping abusive situations. The Transition Home Survey captured information on the characteristics of the women and children staying in these shelters on a specific "snapshot day".

Transition shelters still play a vital role for women and children

On this snapshot day, about 4,300 women and their 3,400 dependent children resided in shelters. About three-quarters of women were there to escape an abusive situation. The remainder were there for other reasons, such as housing or addiction problems.

The various types of facilities providing shelter to abused women include transition homes, emergency-type facilities, such as women's emergency centres and emergency shelters, second stage housing and safe home networks. They differ in terms of the length of stay and the array of services offered.

Since about 70% of mothers coming to shelters to escape abuse are accompanied by their children, many facilities offer services that address the needs of child residents. About three-quarters provided recreational facilities for children; about half offered specialized programming for child witnesses and victims of abuse.

 

Information on shelters in Canada was collected through the Transition Home Survey, a biennial census of all residential facilities for female victims of family violence.