As one can clearly understand from the term, Gender-Based Violence is a type of violence that is committed against a person depending on their gender expression, identity or perceived gender. Even though all Canadians are free to live their lives without experiencing any form of violence, it does not always happen in that way.

According to David Genis, women in Canada face a greater risk of gender-based violence compared to men. The fact is, most of the behaviors that are associated with gender-based violence are not even defined as criminal activity under Canadian Law.

Along with the overt acts of violence, the gender-based violence can also be committed with the behaviors that are more subtle but makes the victim feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or threatened in different ways.

Unwelcome actions and comments in public can also have a severe mental and emotional effect on the victim. To understand and fight this prevalent issue in Canada, people need to be aware of the different types of gender violence and how they are committed. If you are interested in this issue, you should check the following section of this article carefully.

Unsafe In The Public Places

Any place that the public can access with little or no restrictions is known as the public space. The unwanted sexual advances experienced in these spaces are disproportionately experienced by the women.

About 32% of women in Canada have experienced some or the other type of unwanted sexual behavior while they were in public space in the last 12 months. The number is way more than men. In Canada, about 13% of men also experience unwanted sexual Behaviors while they are in public space.

The most common form of unwanted sexual behavior comes in the form of comments, body languages, gestures, calls, and whistles. This is followed by unsolicited physical contacts, like touching or getting too close in a sexual manner.

David Genis – Sexual Assault Lawyer, points out that for men the unwanted physical contacts, comments and sexual attention are more common. However, the percentage is strikingly lower compared to women.

Unwanted Behavior Occurrence Places

Compared to the provinces, unwanted sexual behaviors are more likely to take place in major cities and urban areas. The people who live in the core urban areas, experience more inappropriate behavior in public than people who live in rural areas or out of the core area of the cities. The nature of the populated urban areas compared to the rural ones might be the reason for this.

In the urban places, the volume, as well as the density, of the people in the public areas are higher. The prevalence of this behavior might also be because of the higher degree of anonymity. As in the rural places people know one another, the chances of escaping the social shaming or the lawful punishments are higher.

Young Women and Women Who Are Sexual Minority

 If we hold all other demographic characteristics as constant, then the age and sexual orientation play the biggest role in receiving unwanted sexual behavior in public. The women between 15 to 34 years old tend to get three times more unwanted sexual attention than the women of 34 years or older.

Also, being a sexual minority plays a major role in getting unwanted sexual attention in public when compared to heterosexual women. For example, most of the bisexual women (76%) have experienced unwanted sexual behavior in public.

Sexual Minority Men

David Genis points out that when it comes to the men, the sexual minority men always experience far too much unwanted sexual behavior compared to the heterosexual men.

For example, four in every 10 bisexual (41%) or gay men (38%) experienced one or more types of unwanted sexual behavior in the last 12 months. The percentage of proportion is at least three times higher than the heterosexual men (12%).

Just like women, age is also a big factor for men. The young men experience more unwanted sexual behavior compared to older men.

Unwanted sexual behavior Online

The negative sexual experiences do not stay limited to public space. The internet has become commonplace for people to express unwanted sexual behavior. As like public space, women experience more unwanted behaviors in virtual spaces than men.

However, it is interesting to note that the percentage of women experiencing unwanted sexual behavior online is significantly low (18%) than the percentage of women experiencing it in public space. Compared to public space, the percentage of men who experience unwanted sexual advances in the virtual world are almost equal (14%).

David Genis feels that the problem is, apart from some more serious cases, most of the time both men and women do not want to take the help of the law. About one in ten women who get sexually assaulted consults with the victim services. Most of the time, the victims feel that the incidents are too minor. However, this should not happen. Whenever people feel violated or uncomfortable they should seek the necessary help from law enforcement and the lawyers. It is perhaps the only way to reduce this problem.