Visible Minorities as Victims of Crime in Canada

Visible Minorities¹,² as Victims of Crime in Canada:

• According to results from the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization, 29% of visible minorities experienced at least one incident of victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey. This figure was similar to that for non-visible minorities (28%) and was unchanged from what was found in 1999, the last time the survey was conducted.
• Visible minorities were equally as likely as non-visible minorities to experience a violent crime such as an assault, a sexual assault or a robbery (98 incidents per 1,000 versus 107 per 1,000 population). 
• There were no statistically significant differences between male visible minorities and male non-visible minorities in rates of overall violent victimization or in rates of individual violent offence types. Overall rates of violent victimization for female visible minorities and non-visible minorities were similar, however, rates of physical assault for female visible minorities were much lower than rates for female non-visible minorities (36 compared with 61 per 1,000 population).
• In 2004, the most frequently occurring type of violent victimization for visible minorities was physical assault (60 incidents per 1,000 population), followed by sexual assault (26 per 1,000). This is consistent with rates for non-visible minorities.
• When looking at the different age groups, regardless of visible minority status, the youngest age groups experienced the highest rates of violent victimization. The rates for visible minority age groups are as follows:
  • 210 (incidents per 1,000 population) for those aged 15 to 24
  • 101 for those aged 25 to 34
  • 59 for those aged 35 to 44
  • 34 for those aged 45 and over
• A similar trend was observed for victims not belonging to a visible minority. For example, those aged 15 to 24 had a violent victimization rate that was five-times higher than those aged 45 and over (223 per 1,000 versus 42 per 1,000).
• One third (33%) of all violent incidents involving visible minorities came to the attention of the police. This proportion was identical to incidents involving non-visible minorities.  
• Violent incidents committed against visible minorities were less likely to result in injuries than those involving non-visible minorities. About 16% of incidents committed against visible minorities resulted in injuries compared to 26% of incidents involving non-visible minorities.
• Visible minorities were more likely than non-visible minorities to believe that the incident committed against them was a hate crime³ (7% versus 2%). Visible minority victims were also more likely than non-visible minorities to report the hate-motivated incident was because of the person’s hatred of their race or ethnicity (7% versus 2%)⁴. 
• Despite having similar overall rates of violent victimization, visible minorities were less likely to be satisfied with their safety than their counterparts. For example, 39% of visible minorities stated they were very satisfied with their personal safety from crime, compared to 45% of non-visible minorities.
• Visible minorities were also more likely than non-visible minorities to believe that crime was higher in their neighbourhood compared to other areas in Canada (12% compared to 8%).
• Visible minorities were less likely than non-visible minorities to have experienced spousal violence in the previous five years (4% versus 7% respectively).     

Source:

Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2004.

• 1 Respondents to the General Social Survey were asked to self-identify their cultural or racial background. Whether or not respondents belong to a visible minority group was determined using the criteria outlined in the Employment Equity Act. The Act defines visible minorities as ‘persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour’. The visible minority population includes the following groups: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab/West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Latin American, Japanese, Korean and Pacific Islander.
• 2 It is recognized that visible minorities are characterized by diversity in their culture, language, legal status and the various geographic settings in which they live. However, due to sample size restrictions, analysis in this fact sheet is limited to considering visible minorities as one group.
• 3 The GSS asked respondents if they thought their victimization incident was also a hate crime. This includes incidents that were committed based on the hatred of a person’s sex, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, culture or language.
• 4 Estimates for the other individual reasons were too unreliable to be published.