Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge rate worst in report on safe places for women

Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge are the least safe communities for women, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The study ranked 26 metro areas across Canada and noted, when it came to personal security, the three cities in Waterloo region were the worst.

"The rates of sexual assault and intimate partner violence reported to the police in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (KWC) were among the highest among large cities while the rate of criminal harassment targeting women was the highest," said the report, released Tuesday.

"Overall, KWC placed 26thor last as a safe place for women to live in Canada."

The report also noted this area ranked 20th out of 26 cities in the study for its rate of intimate partner violence, which was 452.9 per 100,000 people.

In 2017, just over 1,300 people were victims of violence by a spouse, common-law partner or dating partner, with women making up 77.1 per cent of the victims.

Low rankings for health, education and economic security

The study ranked 26 metro areas and based the rankings on scores for economic security, education, health, leadership and security. Kingston, Ont., was ranked No. 1 while Barrie, Ont., was ranked last.

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The report gave Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge an overall rank of 17th.

This area also ranked the lowest for health (26th), and low for education (22nd) and economic security (20th).

In health, women on average live 83.7 years in the region, just below the Canadian average.

"There has been a big jump in the proportion of men reporting very good or excellent health, surpassing the proportion of women in this group over the 2012 to 2016 period," the report notes. "The gender gap, in turn, has widened considerably."

In education, women are more likely than men to hold university degrees, but overall, the report says men and women have very similar levels of education.

Science, tech, engineering and math (STEM) graduates are well represented in this area, the report noted, but "the gender gap is relatively large." It notes one in three male graduates have studied in STEM fields compared to one in eight female graduates.

Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge ranked quite high, third, for leadership, largely because woman make up 47 per cent of elected officials in this area.

That's "the closest to gender parity and highest level among large cities," the report noted.