People of any gender can experience a sexual assault. Everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation has the right to receive the same level of support following sexual assault.
Acts of sexual assault are motivated by power inequalities, intolerance, hatred or discrimination of a person’s identity including race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age, and social economic status.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 10 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Those labelled with disabilities, 2SLGBTQQIA + people, Indigenous women, women of color, and those working in sex work are often victimized at much high rates.
Indigenous Women – are sexually assaulted three times more often than non-Indigenous Women. Reclaiming Power and Place: the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Canada, 2019. Web Archive. Pg. 55.
2SLGBTQQIA+ People – Egale Canada reports “Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LBT) women, as well as gender-diverse and Two Spirit people encounter discrimination, stigmatization, and traumatic experiences of violence at disproportionately higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.” Reclaiming Power and Place: the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Canada, 2019. Web Archive. Pg. 56.
Women with Disabilities – experience physical and sexual violence at three to four times the rate of women who do not report disabilities. DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada; Odette, 2012.