A newly released report from 2017 shows women living in the core of larger cities are more likely to experience unwanted sexual behaviour in public than those in less densely populated areas.
The findings released by Statistics Canada suggested one in three women and one in eight men experienced unwanted sexual behaviour, unwanted behaviour online, or unwanted behaviour in the workplace in 2017. It found that specifically, places like Toronto and Ottawa saw figures higher than the Ontario average.
While women were more likely to have been sexually assaulted, the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces showed men were more likely to have been physically assaulted.
Statistics Canada said women were more likely than men to have experienced multiple incidents and to have experienced unwanted behaviour or violence while in a bar or a restaurant, followed by an office building and then a sidewalk or street. The results were similar for men, however, public transit came in third, followed by a sidewalk or street.
"For both men and women, younger age and sexual orientation increased the odds of experiencing this behaviour more than any other factor," the authors stated. "More specifically, being younger and of a sexual orientation other than heterosexual was associated with much higher odds."
The most common types of unwanted sexual behaviour experienced by women in public were unwanted sexual attention (25 per cent), unwanted physical contact (17 per cent), and unwanted comments about their sex or gender (12 per cent).
"The most frequently reported type of unwanted behaviour experienced in public for women was unwanted sexual attention, such as comments, gestures, body language, whistles or calls with more than 3.8 million women experiencing this behaviour in public," the report said.
These were also the three most common types of behaviour experienced by men, though at a considerably lower rate (six per cent each).
Ontario women also have the second-highest unwanted sex rate in the country behind British Columbia while the men are third behind Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The survey showed a lone male stranger is most often responsible for unwanted sexual behaviour in public, online harassment is highest among younger women, and sexual or threatening messages are the most common forms of unwanted behaviour online. Sexual orientation is also the main risk factor for online harassment among men.
The report said the vast majority of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
"Only five per cent of women stated that police found out about the most serious incident of sexual assault they experienced," added the authors.