Quebec police services handled nearly 29% more sexual assault cases in 2021 than in 2020, according to data released by the Ministry of Public Security on Friday. A striking increase that deserves in-depth research, say experts.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) released the main crime trends in Quebec for 2021 on Friday. The full report will be released in the fall.
According to these data, 7,370 cases of sexual assault were reported to the various police forces in the province in 2021, compared to 5,708 in 2020. This is an increase of 28.7%.
In addition, 4,430 crimes were committed in the category of “other sexual offences”, compared to 3,711 the previous year, an increase of 19%.
These are the two largest increases, all categories combined. In fact, the rate of offenses against the person increased by 10.8% in 2021, bringing it to 1131.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest rate since the 2000s, indicates the MSP.
This is mainly due to an increase in the number of assaults, sexual assaults and other sexual offenses reported by police forces.
Extract from the MSP report
More attacks or denunciations?
Several factors may explain such an increase. “We must not hide it: since the bars have reopened, there has been an increase in sexual assault by intoxication”, notes Mélanie Lemay, founder of Quebec against sexual violence. “And during the pandemic, it was an increase in incest cases. »
Despite everything, the MSP data does not necessarily mean that there have been more attacks, underlines Mme Lemay. “Sexual assaults are the only violent crimes that have never decreased, in terms of incidence and importance,” she explains. [Cette augmentation entre 2020 et 2021], does that mean that there is an increase in attacks, or denunciations? »
A vision shared by psychologist Isabelle Daigneault, professor and researcher at the University of Montreal specializing in the issue of sexual violence. Why ? Because sexual violence is one of the crimes very little reported to the police, she explains.
In Canada, only 5% of women report the most serious sexual assault they have suffered to the police, according to Statistics Canada in 2019.
Historically, “when you ask the question in the public and ask people if they have experienced sexual violence, the rates do not vary that much,” said Ms.me Daigneault.
Continue the search
Such a rate variation deserves consideration, say the two researchers.
For Isabelle Daigneault, the data from the MSP will have to be crossed with others, “to see how it fits into the rest of the documentation on sexual violence”.
Does that mean people trust the police more? You would have to do interviews to understand.
Mélanie Lemay, founder of Quebec Against Sexual Violence
Such research could also take into account populations where denunciations are even less frequent, such as among certain cultural groups, among lesbian couples and among men, underlines Mélanie Lemay.
Assaults up, murders down
MSP data also shows a 9% increase in assaults between 2020 and 2021, i.e. 51,460 in 2021 compared to 47,075 in 2020.
Criminal harassment also increased sharply by 16.8% between the two years. In 2021, 7,303 people reported experiencing harassment, compared to 6,234 the previous year.
In addition, vehicle thefts jumped in 2021, from 11,368 thefts in 2020 to 13,622 in 2021, an increase of 19.5%. Fraud, on the other hand, increased by 12.8%.
Unsurprisingly, firearm offenses accelerated by 6.3% between 2020 and 2021.
But all is not black. Indeed, some crimes declined last year, including homicide (-2.5%), criminal negligence resulting in death (-19.8%), conspiracy to commit murder (-3.4 %) and breaking and entering (-13.1%).