Did you know?
Violence against women continues to be a serious problem in our society:
- Every minute of every day, a Canadian woman or child is being sexually assaulted.
- Half of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.
- A minimum of 1 million Canadian children have witnessed violence against their mothers by their father or father figures.
- 29% of female students have been the victims of unwanted sexual contact at their school over the past two years and 18% have experienced sexual assault.
- In Canada, in 1998, 82.6% of victims in reported cases of sexual assault were women; 98% of the accused were men.
- In 70% of sexual assault incidents, the victim knew the accused; 62 per cent were under the age of 18.
- Globally, violence is a major cause of death and disability for women aged 15 to 44 years.
Canadian men want to be part of the solution:
- Increasing numbers of men feel greater ownership over the issue of men’s violence against women.
- In Canada, 66% of men feel that men are not doing enough to address the problem of violence against women.
- 75% of Canadian men feel that it is important that men speak out about violence against women.
- In the US, one in five men does not support efforts to end violence against women because they are not asked to get involved.
- 13% of men feel that the reason for their lack of involvement is because they are perceived as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
- Men’s participation as fathers and mentors can be positive for the lives of women, men and children.
- Father’s absence, or the use of violence by fathers, can have an ongoing, inter-generational impact on children.
- Having witnessed or experienced violence in the home is associated with using violence against an intimate partner.
- When men and women share equally the responsibilities of childcare and breadwinning, women’s basic rights within the family and the community will increase.
The time for change is now:
- Increasing men’s involvement in child development is an important component of achieving gender equality.
- Expanding the role of men’s caring for children creates a broader vision of the human capacity of men in family life and society in general.
- Caring for children and being engaged in the lives of young people increases men’s capacity to express emotions and experience empathy.
- Increased father involvement, together with lower levels of family violence, helps children grow up in an emotionally and physically safe environment.
- Involved, nurturing fatherhood reduces the likelihood that boys will later use violence against female partners.
- Positive father involvement increases the chance that sons will be more gender-equitable, and more nurturing as fathers, and daughters will have more flexible views about gender.
- Young men who believe in gender equality are generally able to identify a father or male figure in their lives who modeled or demonstrated more gender-equitable roles.
- Boys and girls are ready for positive change.
There are many things you can do to effect change:
- For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.
- For every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence.
- For every girl who is tired of being called over-sensitive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep.
- For every boy for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes.
- For every girl who throws out her E-Z Bake Oven, there is a boy who wishes to find one.
- For every boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry’s attacks on her self-esteem.
- For every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier.
