Results of a 1993 Health Canada survey on Women, Substance Abuse, & Violence:
- 40% more battered women reported sleeping pill use.
- 74% more battered women reported sedative use.
- 50% more women physically abused as children reported sleeping pill use and all reported
sedative use.
- Women who were sexually abused as children reported two times greater sleeping pill use
and three times greater sedative use.
- A study of 712 street youth reported that many came from troubled homes where substance
abuse and violence were prevalent.
- 2 out 3 of the street youth were using alcohol and/or other drugs daily or weekly with
the majority being moderate to heavy users.
- 1 in 4 of the 321 female street youth described their first sexual experience as rape
perpetrated by male relatives or family friends.
- 87% of girls who were introduced to sex before the age of ten said rape had been
their first sexual experience.