Toronto police release detailed data on intimate partner violence for the 1st time

The number of intimate partner violence occurrences in Toronto each year has remained steady over the last decade, ranging from about 17,200 to 19,300 a year, according to new data from Toronto police.

The service publicly released detailed data on intimate partner violence (IPV) for the first time Thursday by adding the statistics to its open data portal. CBC Toronto got an early look at the data, which breaks down occurrences across the city by neighbourhood, police division, month and day of the week from 2014 through the end of last year.

“Data is central to a lot of our partnerships, and IPV is one of those community safety issues which requires enhanced collaboration,” said Ian Williams, director of information management for Toronto police. 

“The ability to understand patterns, trends, and the impact over time to communities throughout the city is so critical to understanding and addressing intimate partner violence.”

There is no specific criminal charge for intimate partner violence, so the collective occurrences include a number of charges including assault, murder, sexual assault, threatening, harassment and intimidation against intimate partners.

Both police and a local women’s shelter say making these numbers public is an important step in raising awareness on this issue, which the City of Toronto declared an epidemic in 2023.

“It’s great that this data is getting out there, because once the data is out there, it’s evidence, and it shows the reality of the situation,” said Carol Latchford, executive director of North York Women's Shelter, one of 14 gender-based violence shelters across Toronto.

“It’s not getting better. It’s like a disease.”

Latchford wasn’t surprised to see that the number of occurrences in Toronto each year hasn’t changed much over the last decade.

“Anybody who's working in the violence against women, gender-based violence sector knows that this is the number, and that it's even higher because we know that a lot of folks don't report.”

The new police data also highlights the top five neighbourhoods which had the highest IPV rate per 100,000 residents last year. Weston topped the list, and all five neighbourhoods with the highest rate fell into the boundaries of west-end police divisions 11, 12, 22 and 31.

“We continuously use data to drive our efforts, to identify trends, so we can address our resources,” said Insp. Roger Caracciolo, one of the service’s leads on addressing intimate partner violence.

“We can look at what kind of education we want to put in there.” 

It’s unclear why those neighbourhoods have the highest IPV rates, but Toronto police’s first annual report on intimate partner violence explains how, once hot spots are identified, police deliver targeted community presentations in those areas to go over prevention strategies, safety planning, reporting mechanisms and available community services.