Survey of Sexual Assaults Survivors

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOMEN INTERVIEWED

As shown in Table 3.1, slightly more than half (52%) of the women interviewed for the survey live in Ontario, a third (34%) live in British Columbia and the remaining women (14%) live in Newfoundland or Nova Scotia.[4]

TABLE 3.1 INTERVIEWS BY JURISDICTION
JURISDICTION NUMBER PERCENTAGE
Newfoundland/Nova Scotia Ontario British Columbia 14 53 35 14 52 34
Total 102 100%

The women interviewed were between 15 and 55 years of age, with almost two-thirds (64) between the ages of 25 and 39.  Although ten of the women involved in the study were not Canadian citizens, all had lived in Canada for a significant period of time, ranging from 9 to 37 years.  Ten of the women interviewed declared being of Aboriginal ancestry and another 10 declared that they belonged to another ethnocultural group.  Sixteen women said that they were living with a disability.  Thirteen indicated that they were lesbian.

While these numbers clearly demonstrate the heterogeneity of the women selected to participate in the study, the reader will note that the survey findings reveal a striking commonality of experiences.

[4] These four jurisdictions were included in the survey due to the high level of activity in terms of court actions and/or applications for record disclosure.