Iqaluit (Nov 27/06) - Beginning this week News/North is launching a series focusing on crime in Nunavut.

Three regional features to be published over the coming weeks will put a human face on a Statistics Canada report indicating that Northerners are three times more likely to be victims of crime than their southern counterparts.

Factors in offences: Statistics Canada reports the following as major factors in crime and victimization: Youthful population: Average age in Nunavut was 22.1 compared to 35 to 40 in the south Single parent homes: Nunavut 26 per cent compared to 16 per cent in the south Common-law families: Nunavut 31 per cent compared to 13 per cent in the south Unemployment: Nunavut 17.4 per cent compared to 7.4 per cent in the south Aboriginal population: Nunavut 85 per cent (the highest percentage in the south was 14 per cent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba) Sobering stats: (Statistics represent all three northern territories unless otherwise stated.) Northern residents were three-times more likely to be victims of violent crime such as sexual assault, robbery or physical assault Thirty-seven per cent of residents over the age of 15 reported being victimized at least once in the previous 12 months Young people, ages 15-24, were victims three times more often than those ages 25-24, four times more often than those ages 35-44 and 15 times more often than those ages 45 and over Sixty-one per cent of violent crime involved drug or alcohol Nunavut reported a spousal abuse rate of 22 per cent compared to 12 per cent in the NWT and seven per cent in the south Forty-three per cent of Northerners were injured as a result of violent crime compared to 25 per cent in the south Eighty per cent of northern victims knew the perpetrator compared to 56 per cent in the south It's estimated that 88 per cent of sexual assaults, 69 per cent of household thefts and 67 per cent of personal property thefts were not reported. Fifty-four per cent of northern residents said they were very satisfied with their personal safety compared to 44 per cent in the rest of Canada

The report, titled Victimization and Canada's Territories, was released in October. It contains data gathered in 2004 via telephone surveys with Northern residents as well as statistics collected by RCMP on reported crimes.

General findings indicate that "Northern residents experience higher rates of violent victimization and are more likely to be victims of spousal violence than residents in the rest of Canada.

"Furthermore, police reported crime rates in the North are much higher than those in the provinces," the report reads.

The information collected through telephone surveys marks the first time that self-reported data is available from victims of crime in the North. Police data, the Statistics Canada report explains, are limited only to incidents that are brought to the authorities' attention.

However, the research agency acknowledges that its figures in this case should be used with caution as incomplete telephone service, the North's small populations and the language barrier posed challenges in obtaining responses from the territories.

Numbers from the 2005 Criminal Code police report show even greater rates of crime in the North, and Nunavut in particular. The territory had the higher rate of assault and sexual assault than the NWT and the Yukon.

News/North's forthcoming articles will delve into the troubling nature of break and enters, theft and spousal abuse.

One woman from the Kitikmeot reported her husband to police for assaulting her. She then fled the community, fearing for her safety.

"I told them if he was released, I would kill him myself," she said. "They say he is under conditions, but that's not good enough. It is giving him the chance to do it again."

In the Kivalliq region, one man reflected on how he felt when his home was ransacked by thieves.

"You tend to look closer when you've become a target or victim of crime yourself," he said.