Statistics Canada: 2SLGBTQ+ People Face Significantly Higher Rates of Violent Victimization
Data from the 2025 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, released by Statistics Canada on October 6, 2026, shows that LGB+ and gender diverse individuals in Canada experience violent victimization and unwanted sexual behaviours at rates far exceeding those of heterosexual and cisgender people.
Statistics Canada released findings from the 2025 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS) on October 6, 2026, through a Juristat article titled "Experiences of violent victimization and unwanted sexual behaviours among 2SLGBTQ+ people in Canada, 2025." The data details the prevalence of physical assault, sexual assault, and unwanted sexual behaviours experienced by 2SLGBTQ+ individuals across the country.
In 2025, LGB+ people (12%) and gender diverse people (15%) were over three times as likely to have experienced violent victimization in the previous 12 months compared with heterosexual (3.6%) and cisgender (4.1%) individuals. When looking at lifetime experiences since age 15, approximately two-thirds of LGB+ (66%) and gender diverse (69%) people reported being violently victimized, compared to 38% of heterosexual and 40% of cisgender peers. The lifetime prevalence of violent victimization was highest among people who are both LGB+ and gender diverse, reaching 74%.
About half of LGB+ people had been sexually (49%) or physically (52%) assaulted since age 15, compared to 21% and 31%, respectively, for heterosexual individuals. Among women, bisexual women reported the highest lifetime prevalence of sexual assault at 63%, followed by lesbian women (43%) and heterosexual women (33%). Gay men (35%) and bisexual men (33%) were over three times as likely to have experienced sexual assault in their lifetime than heterosexual men (8.8%).
Among gender diverse people, 50% had been sexually assaulted and 59% had been physically assaulted since age 15, compared to 22% and 32% for cisgender people. Non-binary people were more likely than transgender men (48%) and transgender women (41%) to have experienced sexual assault, with a rate of 57%. The prevalence of physical assault since age 15 was also highest among non-binary people (64%), followed by transgender women (56%) and transgender men (52%).
Beyond physical and sexual assault, LGB+ and gender diverse people were more likely than heterosexual and cisgender peers to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in public and online settings in the previous 12 months.
The findings are based on the 2025 SSPPS, which included an oversample of gender diverse people to allow for disaggregated analysis.