The Gloomy Portrait

Girls are hospitalized because of suicide attempts almost three times as often as boys. Although the suicide death rate is higher for male youth compared to female youth in the general population, the suicide rate of Aboriginal girls (age 15 to 24) is higher than for males overall in the same age group in Canada (35 deaths per
100,000 population versus 24). Girls are much more likely than boys to be
assaulted, both physically and sexually, by family members. In fact, there is overwhelming research to suggest that violence against girls is widespread and endemic in Canada. Yet, despite this gloomy portrait of girls’ lives, there is a disturbing trend emerging in the literature that suggests we should worry more about boys. The National Research Conference, Investing in Children: Ideas for Action, was held in Ottawa in 1998, as researchers and academics were interpreting the first cycle of results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. A major finding of this conference was that boys were at greater risk than girls: