Children's Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in Canada

• This type of violence has become so prevalent that it is now an independent category is Canada’s quadrennial study on child maltreatment.
• In approximately 40% of reported cases of IPV, children saw or heard incidents of VAW
• In approximately half of the incidents in which children saw or heard the incident, the woman was injured, and in half she feared that her life was in danger.
• Where exposure to IPV was the primary category* of substantiated child maltreatment
• 44% of cases were single incident cases, 56% involved multiple incidents
• emotional harm was identified in 26% (2008).
• Where more than one category of maltreatment was substantiated, two most frequently identified combinations were exposure to IPV and neglect, and exposure to IPV and emotional maltreatment (2008)

*This data reflects only those cases which were reported to a child welfare agency, and thus excludes cases in which authorities were not involved, or authorities did not refer to the child welfare agency. This likely underestimates the rates of children’s exposure to IPV.