Status of Women committee  One of the things we are having next year is a MAN conference. We'll deal with all the issues related to sexual violence, misogyny, and learning about misogyny in a patriarchal society. There is a speaker I'm in connection with by the name of Jackson Katz who speaks about it. I think he's the godfather for ending misogyny.

Status of Women committee  One is to have more funding for organizations like ours and to make it easier for us to go into the schools. Sometimes there's a lot of red tape before we can get into the schools. Also, incorporate this into the curriculum so that it's both ways. Once you make it easier for organizations like ours to go into the schools, it will be much easier.

Status of Women committee  How would I answer that? Men are the number one perpetrators of sexual violence—99%. That's the strongest answer. Men are the individuals who are doing it 99% of the time.

Status of Women committee  The first thing I think about in what I do is about being an example. I admit that I am flawed in any presentation I give. I have spoken to a number of male allies around Ontario, and that's one of the first things I do. We go into all the male-dominated spaces. I try to go into gyms, places where there are game rooms, the parks.

Status of Women committee  Their family.

Status of Women committee  Their family, friends, cousins—the people they interact with daily.

Status of Women committee  Yes, and that's the premise the program is based on. Family members impact a lot of what they think about. For example, I might ask, “Who's the person you most admire?” They answer, “Dad.” “What does your dad say about women?” Sometimes little things come out. It always varies with individuals.

Status of Women committee  Some are more accepting of sexual violence. It can be close-knit; they don't talk about it a lot.

Status of Women committee  What we find is that even in terms of family members where the family is close, the youth are exposed through school. That's why I think it needs to be started at a very young age, because they are exposed, and a lot of times parents do not know. Front-line workers, like me and teachers, are exposed to that.

Status of Women committee  In terms of what I've seen, the boys sometimes don't want to talk about it. But it's there. It's underlying. It's kind of taboo. When you go into classrooms or the community centres, you listen to the underlying stuff, like “we see this”. You hear the conversations if you're at the back of the room.

Status of Women committee  Good afternoon. My name is Walter Henry, and I'm the male ally coordinator for SAVIS of Halton. I'm very passionate about my role. I'm not scared to admit that I'm flawed, because I was born into an imperfect world where women and female-identified individuals are still unfortunately seen as “lesser than” by a large number of my male counterparts, given the patriarchal, misogynistic nature of the societies in which we live.