We Deserve to be Safer in High School Too
Listen, Believe, Protect Us
1 in 3 Canadian youth (grade 9-10) who had dated reported adolescent dating violence (ADV) victimization in Canada. Youth who experience oppression are at higher risk for ADV victimization. Youth who experience oppression are at higher risk for ADV victimization i.e Non-binary youth reported significantly higher rates of all forms of ADV victimization than their cisgender peers.
A survey of Canadians between the ages of 14 and 21 found that 15% of girls and 9% of boys said they had had a sexual act forced upon them by a peer, including oral sex or being forced to touch someone sexually.
Of the students who reported to have been subjected to sexual violence, ¼ of them encountered it for the first time before Grade 7 while more than half of the students first experienced it between Grades 7 and 10.
Young People are Disproportionately Affected by Sexual Violence
636,000 self-reported incidents of sexual assault every year in Canada. Of those self-reported sexual assaults, 47% were committed against young women & girls aged 15 - 24.
Young people in Canada between the ages of 15 and 24 make up 43% of all incidents of dating violence, with sexual assault being the most common crime resulting in charges.
LGBTQ youth face high rates of sexual violence
49% of trans students, 33% of lesbian students, and 40% of gay male high school students report being sexually harassed in the school year.
Youth are facing high rates of violence yet are not always meaningfully included in the movement to end gender based violence.
71% of youth in Canada report being in a dating relationship by the age of 15. Young women between the ages of 15 and 19 experience ten times more violence in relationships than young men, according to police-reported cases. This type of abuse is perpetrated by current or former boyfriends and girlfriends as well as in “other” intimate relationships, although the vast majority of dating abuse in teen relationships is committed by a current or former dating partner.