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Eleven percent of women students and 4 percent of men enrolled in a Canadian postsecondary institution experienced a sexual assault “in a postsecondary setting” during the previous year, according to a 2019 survey by Statistics Canada that garnered almost 15,000 responses.
A majority of students -- 71 percent -- said they had witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviors in their college setting in 2019, either on campus or in an off-campus setting involving students or others associated with their institution. Forty-five percent of women students and 32 percent of men said they personally experienced at least one such behavior in the context of their studies.
The majority of women (80 percent) and men (86 percent) who experienced unwanted sexualized behaviors said the perpetrators were fellow students.
Fewer than 10 percent of women and men who reported sexual assault or unwanted sexualized behaviors spoke about what happened with someone affiliated with the school.
“While many saw what happened as not serious enough to report, others cited a lack of knowledge about what to do or a mistrust in how the school would handle the situation,” a summary of the survey results states.
