NCJ Number
141965
Date Published
1992
Length
61 pages
Annotation
The incidence and nature of homicide committed in connection with a sexual assault in Canada were examined, using information from police agencies submitted to the Canadian Center for Justice Statistics, mostly for 1974-86 but also for earlier and later years.
Abstract
Results revealed that although the great majority of homicide victims were male, 85 percent of the sexual homicide victims were female. For 1989, 3 percent of all homicides occurred in conjunction with a sexual assault, while 10 percent were committed during the commission of other offenses such as robbery, breaking and entering, and theft. The number of sexual homicides has remained stable, with 22 occurring in 1974 and 21 occurring in 1989. Three- quarters of the sexual homicides took place in the three most populous provinces, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. Younger victims have been increasingly involved, with one in five under age 21 during 1961-70 and half under age 21 in 1971-86. More than two-thirds of sexual homicide victims were single, compared to only 36 percent of other homicide victims. Charges were filed in three-fourths of the sexual homicide cases, with a stranger being the suspect on 30 percent of the cases and an acquaintance the suspect in one-third of the cases. The suspect was the husband in only 1 of the 405 cases. Figures, tables, 37 references, and appended form and lists of related research reports and literature