OTTAWA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- First Nations people, Métis and Inuit are overrepresented among victims of violence in Canada, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday, citing the results of three surveys.
Results from the 2019 General Social Survey (GSS) on Canadians' Safety, the 2018 Survey of Safety in Private Spaces, and the 2020 Homicide Survey released Tuesday showed that approximately 41 percent of Indigenous people were sexually or physically assaulted by an adult before the age of 15, and nearly 62 percent experienced at least one sexual or physical assault after the age of 15. By comparison, these proportions were 25 percent and 42 percent, respectively, for non-Indigenous people.
Indigenous people were also twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to report being the victim of a violent crime in the 12 months preceding the survey, or 8.4 percent versus 4.2 percent.
For the period from 2015 to 2020, the rate of homicides involving an Indigenous victim, 8.64 homicides per 100,000 Indigenous people, was six times higher than the rate of homicides involving non-Indigenous victims, or 1.39 per 100,000 non-Indigenous people.
The national statistical office said previous research has suggested a link between this violent victimization and past and present colonial policies, including the residential school system, marginalization and institutionalized racism.
These policies have resulted in the disruption of community and family structures, as well as resulted in intergenerational trauma, which are also both linked to violent victimization of Indigenous people, Statistics Canada said.
