Prevalence of sexual violence experienced during childhood and adolescence

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Highlights

  • In Quebec, approximately 1 in 13 people report having experienced sexual violence by an adult before the age of 15. Women are three times more likely to report this than men.
  • Children and youth under the age of 18 account for the majority of victims of sexual offenses, which include both sexual assault and other sexual offenses, according to Quebec police data.
  • Most perpetrators of sexual violence against children and young people under the age of 18 are boys and men.
  • Most acts of sexual violence against children and young people under the age of 18 are committed by people they know, such as immediate or extended family members, intimate partners, acquaintances, or friends.

In this text, the term sexual violence is used to encompass all forms of violence of a sexual nature. The term sexual assault is a more specific form of sexual violence. It refers to offenses under the Criminal Code reported in police data and acts of sexual violence recorded in certain population surveys. These acts most often involve physical contact or sexual activities with or without penetration, without the consent of the person concerned.

The terms children and youth are used in this text to refer to persons under the age of 18. Children refer to persons under the age of 12, and youth refer to persons aged 12 to 17.

What is the prevalence of sexual violence against children?

Population data on sexual violence experienced before the age of 15

According to a 2018 survey, 11% of adult women and 3.5% of adult men reported having experienced at least one sexual assault by an adult before the age of 15 in Quebec. This represented 7.5% of the Quebec population. These data exclude sexual assaults committed by other young people or by intimate partners 1,2.

Population data on sexual violence experienced by high school students

Approximately one in ten youth aged 14 and older (9%) reported having been forced to have unwanted sexual intercourse in their lifetime by another youth (other than an intimate partner) or an adult in 2022-2023. A higher proportion of girls reported this than boys (15% of girls and 3% of boys)3.

In the context of romantic relationships, approximately 13% of high school students reported experiencingsexual violence in the past 12 months. Once again, girls were more likely to report this than boys (20% of girls and 7% of boys)3.

Police data on sexual assaults and other sexual offenses against children and youth

In Quebec, in 2022, children and youth under the age of 18 accounted for nearly half of the victims of sexual assault (48%) reported by the police, for a total of 3,680 offences. Almost all the incidents were categorized as sexual assault (3,617 offences), while very few were with a weapon and aggravated (34 and 7 offences, respectively). Children and youth also accounted for almost all victims of other sexual offenses (91%). This is because a large proportion of these offenses only apply to victims under the age of majority under the Criminal Code. Among other sexual offenses, those reported most frequently in 2022 were sexual interference (2,386 offenses), luring of a child (693 offenses), invitation to sexual touching (256 offenses), and publication of intimate images without consent (167 offenses)5.

For the same period, the age groups with the highest rates of sexual assault victims were 15 to 17-year-olds, followed by 12 to 14-year-olds (566.2 and 429.5 per 100,000 people, respectively). By comparison, the average victimization rate for the entire population was 88.2 per 100,000 persons5.

Police data are useful for determining the number of sexual offenses under the Criminal Code that are handled by these services. However, they represent only a small proportion of the actual prevalence of sexual violence experienced by the population, since it is rarely reported to the police.

Youth protection services data on situations of sexual abuse or serious risk of sexual abuse

In Quebec, in 2023-2024, youth protection services took into care 2,548 children and youth under the age of 18 whose safety or development was deemed to be compromised due to situations of sexual abuse or serious risk of abuse. These situations accounted for nearly 6% of the children and youth taken into care by these services6.

Data from youth protection services in 2019 relating to First Nations children in Quebec indicate that these children were three to four times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be assessed for sexual abuse or serious risk of sexual abuse. This overrepresentation in Quebec youth protection services can be explained by various factors, such as intergenerational transmission of trauma, unfavourable socioeconomic conditions, complex family issues, social exclusion, and fear of discrimination in social services. According to this study, this disparity in reports may also be explained by a lower risk tolerance threshold for First Nations children than for non-Indigenous children, due to cultural biases7.

Like police data, youth protection services data do not reflect the true extent of sexual violence experienced during childhood and adolescence, as only a small proportion (10%) of child and youth victims are known to child protection services in Canada8. Youth protection services data are influenced by several factors, such as the decision to report the situation to the authorities and the decision by protection services to retain the report or to deem the facts to be substantiated or not.

Sexual violence before the age of 15 among certain population groups

Data from the 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) provide information on the proportion of victims of sexual violence by an adult experienced before the age of 15, based on certain demographic characteristics2.

Among the population groups that are overrepresented among victims of sexual violence experienced before the age of 15 are Indigenous people, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities. Several factors and determinants related to a person's identity and position in society may explain why certain groups are more likely to experience it, such as discrimination based on ethnocultural identity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and social inequalities.

  • In Canada, 14% of First Nations people, 27% of Inuit, and 17% of Métis reported experiencing sexual violence by an adult before the age of 15, compared to 6% of non-Indigenous people (9). Data for Quebec was not available for this group due to confidentiality concerns under the provisions of the Statistics Act2.
  • In Quebec, 13% of lesbian or gay people and 12% of bisexual or pansexual people reported having experienced sexual violence by an adult before the age of 15, compared to 7% of heterosexual people2.
  • In Quebec, 12% of people with disabilities reported having experienced sexual violence, compared to 6% of people without disabilities2.

For more information on sexual violence experienced in adulthood by certain population groups.

Who are the perpetrators of sexual violence against children and youth?

Sexual violence experienced during childhood and adolescence is most often committed by someone known to the victim. In Canada, in 2018, in nearly 9 out of 10 cases, the most serious incident of sexual violence experienced before the age of 15 committed by an adult was perpetrated by someone known to the victim. The perpetrator was primarily a family member other than a parent (e.g., grandfather or grandmother, sibling, or other relative) (30%), followed by a friend, intimate partner, neighbour, or classmate (28.5%), and then a parent or stepparent (15%). Strangers accounted for 11% of perpetrators of sexual violence. Women were more likely than men to report that the violence was committed by a family member, such as a parent, stepparent, or other relative10.

In Quebec, in 2022-2023, 13% of high school students reported experiencing sexual violence in a romantic relationship in the past 12 months. In addition, 7% reported being forced to have unwanted sexual intercourse (oral, vaginal, or anal) by another youth, and 2% by an adult, in their lifetime. Among girls, 11% reported being forced to have unwanted sexual intercourse by another youth and 3% by an adult. These proportions are lower among boys (2% by another youth and 1% by an adult)3.

Boys and men account for the majority of perpetrators of sexual violence against children and youth, regardless of the data source; according to Quebec police data from 2022, 95% of alleged perpetrators of sexual offenses were men. Women were more often identified as perpetrators in cases of the publication of intimate images without consent (21%). According to 2019 Canadian population data, the vast majority of people who reported being victims of sexual violence before the age of 15, and whose perpetrator was an adult, mentioned that a man was responsible (in 96% of cases among women and 84% among men)11.

How has the rate of sexual violence against children and youth changed over time?

According to a survey conducted in 2022-2023 among high school students, the proportion of young people who reported being forced to have sexual intercourse against their will, by another young person or an adult, increased between 2016-2017 and 2022-2023. It rose from 6% to 9%, with this increase observed among both girls and boys. The proportion of youth who experienced sexual violence in romantic relationships also increased between these two periods, among both girls and boys, rising from 11% to 13%3.

For more information

For more information on measuring sexual violence, data sources and methodology, see the Sources and methodological considerations page.

References

  1. Cotter, A., et L. Savage (2019). La violence fondée sur le sexe et les comportements sexuels non désirés au Canada, 2018 : Premiers résultats découlant de l’Enquête sur la sécurité dans les espaces publics et privés, [en ligne], Statistique Canada, « Juristat », https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00017-fra.htm (consulté le 10 décembre 2021).
  2. Statistique Canada (2020). Agressions physiques ou sexuelles autodéclarées survenues pendant l’enfance, dans Statistique Canada, [en ligne], https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/fr/cv.action?pid=3510016701 (consulté le 12 juin 2025).
  3. Institut de la statistique du Québec (2024). Enquête québécoise sur la santé des jeunes du secondaire. Résultats de la troisième édition – 2022-2023, [en ligne], Québec, Institut de la statistique du Québec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/fr/fichier/enquete-quebecoise-sante-jeunes-secondaire-2022-2023.pdf (consulté le 18 juin 2025).
  4. Piolanti, A., I. E. Schmid, F. J. Fiderer, C. L. Ward, H. Stöckl et H. M. Foran (2025). Global prevalence of sexual violence against children : a systematic review and meta-analysis, JAMA pediatrics, vol. 179, n° 3, p. 264‑272.
  5. Ministère de la Sécurité publique (2024). Criminalité au Québec - Infractions sexuelles en 2022, [en ligne], Ministère de la Sécurité publique, https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/securite-publique/publications-adm/publications-secteurs/police/statistiques-criminalite/infractions-sexuelles/stats_infr_sexuelles_2022.pdf (consulté le 25 février 2025).
  6. Directrices et directeurs de la protection de la jeunesse/directrices et directeurs provinciaux (2024). Quand la violence conjugale est au cœur de la vie de l’enfant - Bilan des directeurs et directrices de la protection de la jeunesse/directrices et directeurs provinciaux 2024, [en ligne], DPJ, https://www.ciusss-capitalenationale.gouv.qc.ca/sites/d8/files/docs/NosServices/Jeunesse/BilanDPJ2024web.pdf (consulté le 9 juin 2025).
  7. Hélie, S., N. Trocmé, D. Collin-Vézina, T. Esposito, S. Morin et M. Saint-Girons (2022). Volet Premières Nations de l’Étude d’incidence québécoise sur les situations évaluées en protection de la jeunesse en 2019. Rapport EIQ/PN-2019, [en ligne], Institut universitaire Jeunes en difficulté, https://files.cssspnql.com/s/17wpWzsyMzBOhNV (consulté le 11 juin 2025).
  8. Afifi, T. O., H. L. MacMillan, T. Taillieu, K. Cheung, S. Turner, L. Tonmyr et W. Hovdestad (2015). Relationship between child abuse exposure and reported contact with child protection organizations : results from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 46, p. 198‑206.
  9. Perreault, S. (2022). La victimisation des Premières Nations, Métis et Inuits au Canada, [en ligne], Statistique Canada, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00012-fra.htm (consulté le 26 juin 2024).
  10. Heidinger, L. (2022). Profil des Canadiens ayant fait l’objet de victimisation durant l’enfance, 2018, [en ligne], Statistique Canada, « Juristat », https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00016-fra.htm (consulté le 12 juin 2025).
  11. Cotter, A. (2021). La victimisation criminelle au Canada, 2019, [en ligne], Statistique Canada, « Juristat », https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-fra.htm (consulté le 10 décembre 2021).

Author: Maude Lachapelle, Scientific Advisor, INSPQ 
Contributor: Dominique Gagné, Scientific Advisor, INSPQ

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