Sexual violence umbrella

The sexual violence umbrella includes: sexual assault, stalking, sexual harassment, cat calling, sex trafficking, trolling, stealthing, voyeurism, domestic and intimate partner violence, and childhood sexual abuse. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a part of this umbrella too and while practiced in only certain cultures across the world, Canada continues to see more cases of FGM occurring within and around our communities. 

In this image you will find forms of violence such as voyeurism, meaning, watching someone secretly while they engage in an intimate activity such as showering or changing clothes, etc. Stealthing is a form of SV and GBV that involves withholding or removing contraception without informing one’s partner. 

Another form of gender-based violence to consider is femicide. Femicide is defined as an intentional harm directed towards a woman with the intention of murdering her based on the fact that she is a woman. Incidences of femicide have been more pervasive when we look at the statistics about Indigenous women and girls. 4/10 Indigenous women and girls will experience one or more forms of sexual violence in their lives before the age of 15 years. They also have higher rates of being trafficked in Canada. 

It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list of forms of sexual violence that can occur in someone’s life. Folks belonging to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community have different experiences of sexual and gender-based violence and usually their experiences are not well recorded or talked about openly because of stigma and fear in the community. More commonly, SV can take place in more than one more forms simultaneously. For example, an individual who has been cat-called before may also experience stalking or harassment by same or different individual.  

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