Criminal harassment 1994 and 1995
Criminal harassment, or "stalking," is a crime experienced largely by women and perpetrated mostly by men. Eight in 10 stalking victims in 1994 and 1995 were female, over half of whom were stalked by a current or previous partner, according to a data from a sample of police departments.
Stalking is generally defined as repeatedly following or communicating with another person, causing that person to fear for their safety or for the safety of someone known to them. Stalking covers behaviour such as trespassing, harassing phone calls, making threats, or repeatedly sending gifts or letters. Criminal harassment was added to the Criminal Code in 1993 to try to control these types of non-violent behaviour and to respond to them before they lead to violence.
While the vast majority of the 7,472 victims reported by police during these two years were female, 88% of the 5,382 persons accused of this crime were male. Current and previous partners posed the greatest threat to female victims: 39% were stalked by an ex-husband, 2% by a current husband and 17% by a current or ex-boyfriend. In comparison, 13% of males were stalked by a current or previous partner.
Cases involving ex-partners may result from the stalker's refusal to accept that their relationship with the other person has ended. As a result, they continuously pursue their victim, causing them to fear for their safety.
One-quarter of female victims and almost half of male victims were stalked by a casual acquaintance, most of whom were male. Many of the incidents involving casual acquaintances of the opposite sex are a result of the stalker's false belief that their victim is in love with them, or that their victim would return their love if she or he only got to know them.
Additional incidents involved victims stalked by strangers (8%), work relationships (5%) and family members other than spouses (5%).
Most incidents occurred at or near the victim's home
One in four incidents involved other offences such as uttering threats, assault, harassing phone calls, mischief, breach of probation or bail violation, and breaking and entering. Although relatively few victims were physically injured, research suggests that the threat of harm from the stalker can lead to severe emotional trauma for the victim. This is particularly true when the incident occurs at or near the victim's home, the most common location.
In one-fifth of incidents in which an accused was identified, a charge was not laid by police because the victim did not want to pursue charges. This was most common among those who knew their accused through a business relationship and among men stalked by their ex-wife. Women stalked by a former partner were more likely to pursue charges.
Note to readers
For the first time, Statistics Canada releases a report on criminal harassment, more commonly known as "stalking". This release is based on Juristat: Criminal harassment, published by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
A note of caution: the data reported by both police and provincial courts for this study provide only a partial picture of criminal harassment and are not nationally representative. Data reported by the police originated from the Revised Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, which covers a sample of 130 police departments, accounting for 43% of the national volume of crime. The majority of incidents in this sample were from Quebec and Ontario and included major urban areas such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Data are based on the combined years of 1994 and 1995.
Court data are from 1994 and originate from the Adult Criminal Court Survey (ACCS). The survey collects data from provincial courts in seven jurisdictions: Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The vast majority (79%) of criminal harassment charges in the 1994 sample originated from Quebec. The coverage by the ACCS represents 34% of the national provincial court caseload and are not nationally representative.
One in four charges were dropped in court
According to a sample of data from provincial courts, just over one-third of criminal harassment charges resulted in a verdict of guilt in 1994, while 39% were dropped. That is, they were withdrawn, dismissed or stayed. By comparison, 57% of minor assault charges resulted in a finding of guilt that same year, while only 27% were dropped.
Other research on a different sample of criminal harassment charges found that, of those dropped, one-quarter were in exchange for a "peace-bond," an order by a judge or justice of the peace that requires the accused to "keep the peace and be of good behaviour" and to refrain from any contact with the victim.
Of the criminal harassment charges resulting in conviction, 6 in 10 received probation as the most serious sentence and one-third received a prison sentence, usually for a term less than six months. Those cases involving a violent offence, such as assault, were more likely to receive a prison sentence.
Juristat: Criminal harassment (85-002-XPE, $10/$90) is now available. See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact Information and Client Services (613-951-9023; 1-800-387-2231), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
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Table: Victims of criminal harassment
1994 and 1995
______________________________________________________________________________
Total victims Female
victims
______________________________________________________________________________
%
Relationship of
accused to victim
Total(1) 5,023 100 4,046
Spouse 78 2 75
Ex-spouse 1,652 33 1,564
(Ex-)boyfriend/(ex-
)girlfriend 722 14 684
Other family 234 5 150
Casual acquaintance 1,402 28 952
Work relationship 246 5 136
Stranger 408 8 296
Other 77 2 23
Unknown 204 4 166
______________________________________________________________________________
Female Male victims
victims
______________________________________________________________________________
% %
Relationship of
accused to victim
Total(1) 100 977 100
Spouse 2 3 - -
Ex-spouse 39 88 9
(Ex-)boyfriend/(ex-
)girlfriend 17 38 4
Other family 4 84 9
Casual acquaintance 24 450 46
Work relationship 3 110 11
Stranger 7 112 12
Other 1 54 6
Unknown 4 38 4
______________________________________________________________________________
(1) Excludes 2,449 victims for whom the accused-victim relationship could
not be established.
(- -) Amount too small to be expressed.
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Longitudinal Administrative Databank
1982 to 1993
Data for 1993 have been added to the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD). LAD consists of a 10% longitudinal sample of taxfilers spanning 12 years from 1982 to 1993. The large sample, 2.4 million persons in 1993, ensures reliable estimates for Canada, the provinces, CMAs, cities, and other sub-provincial regions based on postal geography.
LAD contains over 230 income, demographic and other taxation variables on Canadians and their families. The LAD is a unique source for studying the socio-economic dynamics of Canadians. This databank was designed to supply researchers and analysts with a tool for studying the income changes that Canadians and their families experience.
Custom tabulations for 1993 can now be provided.
For further information on this release, contact Client Services (613-951-9720; fax 613-951-4745; Internet: saadinfo@statcan.ca), Small Area and Administrative Data Division.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cancer 1993
A total of 116,603 new cases of invasive cancer were diagnosed in 1993, a 3% increase over the 112,783 cases diagnosed in 1992.
Cancer incidence data for 1993 are now available. These include data on new cases of cancer diagnosed in Canada in 1993, as reported by all provincial and territorial cancer registries.
For further information on this release, contact Judy Lee (613-951-1775) or Client Custom Services Unit (613-951-1746), Health Statistics Division.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FEATURE: Juristat: Criminal harassment 1994 and 1995
Today, for the first time, Statistics Canada releases a report on criminal harassment, more commonly known as "stalking". This Juristat , published by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, presents information on criminal harassment incidents reported to the police as well as the outcomes of criminal harassment charges heard in provincial courts.
The vol. 16, no. 12 issue of Juristat (85-002-XPE, $10/$90) is now available. See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact Information and Client Services (613-951-9023; 1-800-387-2231), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.