Facts in Brief

Abuse can happen in any family, at anytime, no matter one’s age, sexual orientation, level of income, or devotion to one another.

• The abuse can be verbal, emotional, sexual or physical.

• Conflict most often begins when the abuser needs to either maintain or regain power and control in the relationship.

• Common areas for conflict include determination on how money is spent, and over the management of the children.

• Female partners in a common-law relationship are four times more likely to be victims of violence than married women.

• Violence is more likely to increase when the wife is pregnant.

• Immigrant and minority women are more prone to domestic abuse, less likely to report it, and find it harder to get help when they try to leave abusive home environments.

• Family violence isolates children, damages their self-esteem, and can spawn psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, feelings of guilt and suicidal tendencies.

• In 50-70% of cases where one parent is abusing the other, the children are being abused as well.

• Growing up in a violent home can lead some people to turn against their own children when they become parents, or to abuse their adult partners.

• 50% of Canadian women who were physically assaulted also experienced sexual assault by the same partner.

Sources:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women;
Grant L. Martin, PhD; Canadian Council on Social Development; Statistics Canada.