1. Victimization, fear and perceptions of visible minorities: Findings from a national survey Justice, Policing and Security in a Diverse Canada February 25, 2008 Jodi-Anne Brzozowski Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

2. General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization Canadas national victimization survey Conducted for the 4 th time in 2004 Sample size 24,000 individuals 15 years and older Private households (excludes institutions) 10 provinces surveyed by telephone using Random Digit Dialing (RDD)

3. Objectives of the survey Estimates of the extent to which people experience criminal victimization Risk factors associated with victimization Characteristics of victimization incidents Fear of crime and public perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system Emerging justice issues

4. Identifying visible minorities in the GSS Persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are not white in race or colour: Chinese South Asian (e.g., Indian from India, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sri Lankan) Black (e.g., African, Haitian, Jamaican, Somalian) Arab/West Asian (e.g., Armenian, Egyptian, Iranian, Lebanese, Moroccan) Filipino Southeast Asian (e.g., Cambodian, Indonesian, Laotian, Vietnamese) Latin American JapaneseKoreanOther

5. Methodological considerations and challenges Undercoverage for those who do not speak English or French Estimates subject to sampling error Releasability (achieving minimum sample sizes) Tests of statistical significance

6. Selected findings

7. Visible minorities and non-visible minorities experience similar rates of violent victimization For all violent crimes, including sexual assault, robbery and physical assault, the rate of victimization for: Visible minorities was 98 incidents per 1,000 persons Non-visible minorities was 107 incidents per 1,000 persons

8. Canadian-born visible minorities experience the highest victimization rates

9. Some factors that could explain this difference Higher proportions of Canadian-born visible minorities are: Young (aged 15-24) Unmarried Low income earners Participate in high number of evening activities

10. Hate-motivated victimization Visible minorities more likely to believe they were a victim of a hate crime (7% compared to 3% of incidents) Race or ethnic origin was most commonly cited motive for hate crimes (66% of all hate-motivated incidents)

11. Perceptions of police performance Visible minorities less likely to say police were doing a good job: Being approachable and easy to talk to (55% versus 67%) Supplying information to the public on ways to reduce crime (42% versus 52%) Treating people fairly (50% versus 61%)

12. Chinese least likely and South Asians most likely to rate police positively

13. Visible minorities more likely to report some forms of social disorder in their neighbourhoods Loitering (30% versus 24%) People sleeping on the streets (12% versus 6%) Harassment and attacks motivated by racial intolerance (18% versus 11%) Prostitution (16% versus 8%)

14. Perceptions of discrimination among visible minorities Visible minorities twice as likely as non- visible minorities to believe they had experienced discrimination (28% vs 13%) Majority of visible minorities who felt discriminated against believed it was due to their race or ethnic origin (81%) Blacks and Latin Americans were the most likely to have experienced discrimination (36% for both groups)

15. Visible minorities somewhat more fearful than non-visible minorities Visible minorities less likely than non- visible minorities to be very satisfied with personal safety (39% versus 45%) Blacks most likely to feel safe waiting for public transportation after dark and Chinese least likely Blacks most likely to feel safe waiting for public transportation after dark and Chinese least likely

16. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Profile Series Visible Minorities and Victimization, 2004 by Samuel Perreault Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 19th floor, R.H. Coats Building, Ottawa, K1A 0T6 Telephone: 613-951-9023 Toll-free: 1-800-387-2231 Catalogue no. 85F0033MIE No. 015 Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Profile Series Visible Minorities and Victimization, 2004 by Samuel Perreault Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 19th floor, R.H. Coats Building, Ottawa, K1A 0T6 Telephone: 613-951-9023 Toll-free: 1-800-387-2231 Catalogue no. 85F0033MIE No. 015