Family and partner violence against Canadian men is rising, data says. Why?

Women and girls remain the primary victims, but the number of cases where men and boys are the victims appears to also be growing, new data shows.

Family and intimate partner violence in Canada is rising and while women and girls remain the primary victims, the number of cases where men and boys are the victims appears to also be growing, new data shows.

Police-reported family violence rose by 17 per cent and intimate partner violence by 13 per cent from 2018 to 2023, according to a Statistics Canada report published Thursday.

In 2023, there were a total of 139,020 victims of family violence and 123,319 victims of intimate partner violence as reported to police across the country.

Those numbers represent a three per cent total rise last year in family violence, which is committed by spouses, parents, children, siblings and extended family members, and a one per cent total increase in intimate partner violence committed by current and former legally married spouses, common-law partners, dating partners and others.

“Increases were noted regardless of gender, although they were larger for men and boys,” Statistics Canada noted in the data.

Humberto Carolo, chief executive officer of White Ribbon, a Canadian organization that works with men and boys to end gender-based violence and discrimination, said the data is “concerning” but likely underreported as many people don’t come forward or are unable to seek support.

The rate of reported family violence for women and girls in 2023 was double that reported for men and boys, while reports of intimate partner violence were nearly four times higher.

Women and girls also made up the majority of victims of such violence last year.