Family Violence Against Seniors In Canada Reaches Record High

Authored by Chandra Philip via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Incidents of family violence against Canadian seniors has hit a record high, according to data from Statistics Canada.

The recently released StatCan report found that the number of seniors mistreated by a family member has risen 49 percent since 2018. StatCan analyzed police-reported incidents of family violence nationwide for the study.

Seniors were most often victimized by a child (36 percent) or spouse (28 percent), the report found, while 25 percent were victimized by another family member, with 11 percent identifying the perpetrator as a sibling.

A total of 7,622 incidents of senior family violence were reported to police in 2024.

StatCan noted there has been a 4 percent increase in family violence against seniors since 2023, which was considered the highest recorded rate at the time.

Seventy-two percent of senior victims said they were victims of a physical assault by a family member in 2024, while 17 percent said they were a victim of threats.

The number of family violence cases for senior women was slightly higher than than of senior men, with 104 female victims per 100,000 people and 92 males per 100,000 people.

StatCan said women 65 years and older were most often mistreated by their child (34 percent) or spouse (32 percent), while 39 percent of senior men said they were victimized by their child and 21 percent reported being mistreated by a spouse.

Overall, the rate of family violence increased by 17 percent between 2018 and 2024, according to StatCan. The report also said that cases of intimate partner violence increased by 14 percent during the same time period.

Police services in Canada said there were 349 victims of family violence per 100,000 population in 2024, StatCan noted.

The StatCan report also noted an increase in intimate partner violence among victims aged 12 or older—a number that grew 14 percent.

The rise was larger for men and boys, who saw a 21 percent increase, compared to women and girls, who saw a 16 percent increase.

StatCan said there were 25,938 child and youth victims of police-reported family violence in 2024, a rate of 345 victims per 100,000 population aged 17 and younger.

The report said that 30 percent of children were mistreated by a family member.

The rate of family violence against children has increased 26 percent since 2018, with most being victimized by a parent (61 percent), while 15 percent were victimized by a sibling and 24 percent by another family member.

The majority children and youth (57 percent) were victims of physical assault, while 33 percent of child and youth were victims of sexual assault.