goal 5

Canada: NO RANKING

 « ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS »

TARGET 5.1
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

IN MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC AND THE REST OF CANADA, INEQUALITIES PERSIST BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN, AND GIRLS AND BOYS.

Among children, inequality comes in many forms and is often attributed to persistent gender stereotypes at home, at school, in sports and recreation, or in relationships.

Throughout the chapters of this report, we have paid particular attention to gender differences. For the sustainable development goal on gender equality, we are focusing on two issues tied directly to UNICEF’s targets: girls’ and boys’ access to higher education and violence committed against girls and boys.

 

YEAR AFTER YEAR, MORE WOMEN RECEIVE A BACHELOR’S DEGREE THAN MEN.

  • In 2016 in Quebec, 11% of women and 14.7% of men aged 25–64 did not have any kind of diploma, attesting to how women have significantly closed the gap in education.

    In Montréal, 8.6% of women aged 25–64 did not have any kind of diploma,compared to 8.9% of men, a non-significant statistical difference.

    Gender differences were statistically significant in Laval and Montérégie. In Laval, 8.4% of women did not have any kind of diploma, compared to 16.4% of men. In Montérégie, 10.2% of women did not have diploma, compared to 15.4% of men.
  • Following a temporary drop between 2011 and 2012 in the number of new holders of a bachelor’s degree in general education in the youth sector surged by 13% the next year (2012–2013), creating an average annual increase of 2.4% for 2011–2015. (Table 5.1).
  • Throughout Quebec, women represented the majority of bachelor’s degree recipients in general education in the youth sector.

 

TABLE 5.1

Holders of a bachelor in general education in the youth sector who completed their high school studies in Quebec, all of Quebec, Montréal, Laval and Montérégie, 2011 and 2015.

SOURCE: Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur (MEES), 2016.

  • In 2015, 29,732 new recipients of a bachelor’s degree had done their high school studies in Quebec, and 62.2% of them were women.
  • Despite some progress in diversifying programs of study, there are still proportionally more men than women receiving a bachelor’s degree in pure and applied sciences, regardless of region of residence.

    In Quebec in 2015, 34% of new male bachelor graduates received a degree in pure and applied sciences, compared to only 10% of new female graduates.

    There were more social sciences graduates overall, but women were the majority, with 69% of female graduates receiving a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences, compared to 56% of men.

MORE THAN 80% OF SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS ARE GIRLS

TARGET 5.2
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres.

 

  • In Quebec, approximately 3,500 sex offenses were reported to the police in 2014 (Figure 5.1).

    The most frequent offenses are sexual assault, sexual contact and child luring via computer.

    In every category of sex offense, girls are more likely to be victims than boys.

    The difference between girls and boys is quite significant for sexual assault: 80% of sexual assault victims are girls; or 1,575 girls compared to 333 boys.
  • Sexual assault is the main type of sex offense against children under six: 242 cases of sexual assault were reported in Quebec in 2014 (Figure 5.2).
  • In case of sexual contact and inviting sexual touching, the perpetrator is usually someone the child knows, while a stranger is typically the perpetrator only in cases of luring via computer.

Figure 5.1

Number of sex offense victims by type and sex, youth under 18, all of Quebec, 2014

 SOURCE: Direction de la prévention et de l’organisation policière. (2016). Infractions sexuelles au Québec. Faits saillants. 2014. Québec, Ministère de la Sécurité publique

Figure 5.2

Number of victims of sex offences by type and age, all of Quebec, 2014

 SOURCE: Direction de la prévention et de l’organisation policière (2016). Infractions sexuelles au Québec. Faits saillants. 2014. Québec, ministère de la Sécurité publique.

NOTE: Sexual contact and inviting sexual touching only concern children under 16. This is the age of the victim when the offense is reported. The victim may have been younger when the sexual acts were committed.