The number of sexual assault complaints filed with police and classified as founded increased sharply in Canada after the #MeToo movement went viral in October 2017.
The increase was most pronounced in Quebec, a study published today by Statistics Canada says.
Researchers compared two periods — before #MeToo from Jan. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2017, and after from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2017.
Quebec saw the largest increase in sexual assaults reported to police, rising 61 per cent after #MeToo. The rate jumped to 20 complaints per 100,000 population from 12.4.
Newfoundland and Labrador saw the second highest increase, rising 36 per cent, and Manitoba was next at 27 per cent. The other provinces and territories were below the national average increase of 24 per cent.
Nationally, the figures show an average of 74 sexual assaults reported to police per day after #MeToo, compared with 59 per day before.
