OTTAWA - A study has found that the rate at which visible minorities born in Canada were the victims of violent crime in 2004 was three times higher than that of visible minorities born abroad.
The found visible minorities born in Canada were victimized by violence at a rate of 211 incidents for every 1,000 people, compared to 69 per 1,000 among immigrants who were visible minorities.
The agency says several factors could help explain the difference -- Canadian-born visible minorities are younger, more likely to be single and more likely to be low-income earners than their foreign-born counterparts.
Visible minorities born in Canada also participate in a higher number of evening activities which, previous studies have shown, relate to a greater risk of victimization by violence.
The study found minorities in general and people who were not visible minorities were at similar risk of being victimized by violent crimes like sexual assault, robbery and physical assault.
The rate of victimization for all visible minorities was 98 incidents for every 1,000 people in the population, compared with 107 for those who were not visible minorities.
