Vast majority of victims don’t report intimate partner violence to police, study says

The Quebec flag flies on a flag pole in Gatineau, Que., Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld (Adrian Wyld)

A new analysis by Quebec’s statistics institute has concluded that the vast majority of victims don’t report intimate partner violence to the police.

That includes 74 per cent of women and 83 per cent of men.

The study also found that 40 per cent of adult Quebec women who have been in a relationship have experienced an act of intimate partner violence, compared to 26 per cent of men.

The Institut de la statistique du Québec says victims are more likely to contact police in cases of physical or sexual violence than for incidences of psychological violence or coercion.

Victims over the age of 29 are also more likely to call police than younger people.

The data comes from a survey on intimate partner violence carried out in 2021-2022 that questioned more than 13,500 women and 10,900 men. That was compared to data on police reports that is published annually by the Quebec government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.