Status of Women Committee on Sept. 26th, 2016

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Do you have anything, Ms. Dixon?

I was wondering if you think that the new technologies we have actually increase cyber-violence or they just provide new avenues for violence against young women and girls to be perpetrated.

[Shanly Dixon]

That's a really big question. I've been doing this for over a decade, and I did my Ph.D. on young people's engagement with digital culture. We really believed in the whole digital native myth, and thought that young people were going to lead the way. We thought they were doing their own thing but that they were inherently adept. I think that maybe we kind of stood back a bit and young people engaged in developing their own social norms online, and these maybe weren't as positive as we would have hoped.

I'm a person who really believes in opportunity. I teach digital literacy education, but we are starting to see some of the problems that are arising.

I think it's just the changing structure of society. You see a lot of times, when I talk to professors or I give keynotes, that they don't want to have conversations with young people about technology, because they think young people are more adept. My perspective is that you have a lot of wisdom from life experience that you can bring to that conversation, and if you're teaching the philosophy of ethics, you can bring that to the conversation.

I think we're going to see a lot more cyber-violence and a lot of new types of cyber-violence with virtual reality technology. We've had video game companies come to discuss with us their concerns about the cyber-violence that will be enacted against girls and young women with these emerging technologies. I think it's going to be a whole new thing.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

We're out of time.

I want to say thank you very much to our witnesses for appearing before us today and for sharing their expertise with us. We really appreciate it.

We are now going to suspend for two minutes.

We will clear the witnesses and get the next panel ready, and we'll start right at 4:30 sharp.

Rachel.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Just before excusing the witnesses, would it be possible to request a written response to my question with regard to legislation initiatives that could, perhaps, be beneficial to the RCMP going forward?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Absolutely. We will send the question to you, and you can forward your response to the clerk.

Thanks again.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Chair, could we stay two more minutes, so I could ask one more question?

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

What is the will of the committee? Sure.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thanks.

Ms. Dixon, would it help denormalize online violence if school boards and provinces incorporated digital literacy into their curriculum?

[Shanly Dixon]

I think that would help.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

We are here for our second panel. We are extremely fortunate today to have with us Carol Todd from the Amanda Todd Legacy Society and Leah Parsons, a representative from the Rehtaeh Parsons Society.

Ladies, we want to welcome you to the committee. We know what bravery it takes to come and share your stories with a view to preventing these tragedies for future girls, so we thank you.

We are going to begin with a 10-minute speech from each of you, and then we will go into our questions.

We will start with Ms. Parsons.

[Leah Parsons, Representative, Rehtaeh Parsons Society, As an Individual]

Thank you for inviting me to speak here today on a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. My name is Leah Parsons. I am the mother of Rehtaeh Parsons. Rehtaeh died by suicide 17 months after her sexual assault. Rehtaeh was assaulted by four males in November 2011. A photo was taken and shared without her permission or knowledge. The photo was widely distributed in her school and community. She struggled emotionally to regain her sense of being. However, every time she attempted a fresh start, she was faced with the reality that the image continued to be shared as she moved from school to school.

This crime was reported to the police within a week yet the image was never contained or removed. Rehtaeh was just 15 years old at the time of this trauma. At this young age Rehtaeh was just developing the very core of who she would become. She left grade nine just a few months prior as a straight-A student with big hopes and dreams for her future.

Once she became a target of cruelty and ridicule, her mental health started to deteriorate, and it happened very fast. Soon my bright, confident girl was struggling with thoughts of suicide. Panic, anger, and sadness were emotions she cycled through on a regular basis. She just didn't have enough time and life experience to see that it was possible to navigate through this dark period. She became terrified of her own thoughts.

During the 17 months of struggle, Rehtaeh was forced to endure harassment both online and in person from her peer group. She knew what happened to her was not her fault, but society continually told her otherwise. The agencies put in place to protect did not seem capable and/or willing to help us navigate these turbulent waters. We were left desperately seeking and searching for answers and direction. Since Rehtaeh left us on April 7, 2013, at the young age of 17, I have been an advocate in the areas of cyber-abuse, sexualized violence, youth mental health, and suicide prevention and awareness. Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh shone a light on the dangers of social media with profound impact. It was very clear that society had to do something. Their deaths also created important conversations at our dinner tables across Canada and around the world.

Many changes have occurred since, but we still have a long way to go to protect females in our society. We talk more about the impact of cyber-violence now that we are aware, but we must continue to move along to empower and educate. I reflected long and hard when I was invited to here to speak about the issues of cyber-violence. What kept coming back to me were the many voices of mothers and young women who reach out to me for help and advice, sharing their stories of abuse, and desperately wanting change to make their lives and the lives of all females safe. They feel vulnerable and alone, and I know that feeling. Women are not taken seriously and are often dismissed when we voice our concerns.

Blaming women for crimes committed against them is not new behaviour. Women have been systemically marginalized for centuries. However, the ways in which women are targeted in this day and age unfold differently because of social media. On a regular basis, women share their concerns with me about the sharing of intimate images without permission and being a target of online cruelty and sexualized violence.

While some police and school officials take these offenses seriously, many do not seem to know what to do. Sometimes they even add comments that blame the victim. Time and time again I have been told that officials are advising women to stay off the Internet to avoid being harassed. In the case of photos shared online, some officials are suggesting that the female should just stop sharing intimate images. This advice is not the answer and only adds to the victim-blaming mentality.

There also seems to be a disconnect in knowledge within police agencies across the country regarding the new Bill C-13 within the Criminal Code of Canada, which prohibits the sharing of intimate images without consent.

Agencies have to make it a priority to know the law and enforce it. Once that image is online, getting the image removed continues to be problematic for many females. There does not seem to be a uniform procedure to remove online images, and it appears to take a very long time to get an image taken down.

As far as females being harassed online is concerned, there are no laws in place to protect them. Nova Scotia's Cyber-safety Act, put in place in 2013 after Rehtaeh died, was the first of its kind in Canada and was enacted to protect people from cyber-violence. However, this law was struck down for being too broad. Nova Scotia justice minister Diana Whalen will be introducing new legislation in the spring of 2017. This is a step in the right direction.

Enacting new laws and responding in a fast, efficient manner are just some of the ways we combat cyber-violence, but we cannot ignore the fact that there are underlying deep-rooted ideologies that will take a very long time to undo. Women are still objectified, and the message from multiple sources that we are being bombarded with on a daily basis is that you are not enough, meaning you're not pretty enough, thin enough, sexy enough, smart enough, etc.

When females internalize this message, some suffer immensely from poor self-image, which can often manifest in females being cruel to other females. This can be seen in some adolescent girls who are competitive, cruel, and hurtful to their female peers. That was certainly evident in the horrible messages I read that were sent to my daughter.

My background is in psychology, and from this perspective it is easy to recognize that what we do not like in ourselves, we cannot embrace in others. Therefore, empowering young girls to love who they are is of utmost importance. Peer acceptance is very important, and when young girls are at the receiving end of cyber-violence, their mental health suffers. We have to redefine what it means to be female.

That being said, we certainly cannot leave out the male population in these conversations. It always amazes when, after I've given presentations in schools, young males approach me to ask more questions about consent. They are confused, because no one has had a conversation with them about what sexual consent entails Some young males truly believe that when a girl says no to sexual advances, it's time to apply more pressure.

A similar behaviour is now common online in the pressuring of females to send intimate images. We attempt to teach our girls what they need to do to be safe but not how to value who they are. We are certainly missing the mark when it comes to males.

If males continue to view females as objects, how can they value them as human beings? Rehtaeh lost her value as a human being the day she was labelled a slut.

I know that if Rehtaeh had been seen as a person that night back in 2011 and not as an object to be conquered, and if her peers had rallied around her to show their support instead of blaming her, I would not be here speaking to you today.

I know that we can make a difference in the lives of all human beings, and we must act now. We are losing way too many young lives to suicide due to violence in all forms.

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Todd, you have 10 minutes.

[Carol Todd, Mother and Advocate, Amanda Todd Legacy Society]

Thank you for the invitation to speak in front of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in relation to violence against young girls and women.

My name is Carol Todd. I am an educator in British Columbia, but I am best known as the mother of Amanda Todd. Amanda has become a prominent figure worldwide in the fight against cyber-bullying, sextortion, and revenge pornography. Born on November 27, 1996, she lived too briefly, until the age of 15. On October 10, 2012, she took her own life.

As a mother, I will always carry the heartache of losing my daughter.

While Amanda died far too young, she left a legacy in her own words posting her YouTube video on her YouTube channel, which has been viewed approximately 40 million times across the world. The legacy is one of promoting greater awareness and education of the issues that surround cyber-bullying, social media safety, and ultimately, mental health.

Amanda's life from ages 12 to 15 encompassed sextortion, bullying, both online and off-line, cyber-abuse, and mental illness. There were reports to the police and changes in schools to help rectify what was happening in her life. The police suggested keeping her off-line, which we know now isn't the right answer, as a young person feels that their lifeline is attached to the technology device that is in their hands. A teenager considers their device to be oxygen, and without it, they don't believe they can exist. Police officers can sometimes seem out of touch with the teens and will flippantly tell parents, “teens will be teens” just as we often hear that boys will be boys.

Amanda had a learning disability related to language processing and had been diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, and anxiety disorder, which impacted her life immensely. But she found a place that made her feel successful in the world of music and singing. At a young age, she shared her songs on YouTube and started her own channel, where people—strangers—would compliment her and invite her into chat rooms to speak. Amanda and her friends, being members of the pioneer age of technology, joined in to make new friends and talk about their favourite singers and stars.

At that time, our knowledge of what existed on the Internet was not as widespread as it is now. Warnings were not widely in place about avoiding unknown profiles, about which social media sites were full of predators, and about how to protect yourself when talking to strangers. Today it is still impossible to know exactly who you are talking to online; therefore, stranger danger warnings are necessary and need to be instilled in everyone, from the very young to adults.

Amanda and her friends ended up sharing personal information with those strangers and learned first-hand about the dark side of the Internet, a predator's playground where strangers can prey on the kids who visit these social media sites.

During a chat session, someone pretended to be a teenaged boy and convinced Amanda to flash him and, unknown to her, he screencapped her image. These cappers collect and trade child pornography images and use them in criminal ways. Amanda's image was used to exploit her and was posted to adult pornography sites and later put on a social media network for everyone to see. It was later found that the profile was alleged to be linked to a 35-year-old man who now sits in a Netherlands jail awaiting trial for crimes against a hundred other victims across the world.

When he did not get what he wanted from Amanda, and after the initial posting, the profile then contacted and taunted me with what my daughter had done. When one teen told her parent, it was then reported to the RCMP, who came to our door that early morning. This left Amanda shocked and feeling bad about her situation, instilling fear in her, as we didn't know where this person resided. After this incident, her peers continued to taunt and ridicule her face to face, online, in school, and in our community. This left Amanda powerless, fearful, and anxiety-ridden and not wanting to leave her own house.

This alleged profile made by the predator continued to follow, terrorize, and threaten Amanda over social media, even after she went off social media and went off-line as had been recommended. When we allowed her to go back online, the person came back and continued to taunt her, harass her, and threaten her. Amanda moved schools multiple times, and it is known to us now that this person created a hundred alias profiles and followed her around.

The story was documented by The Fifth Estate in programs called “The Sextortion of Amanda Todd” and “Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows”, which it is recommended we all watch so we can continue to learn.

When Amanda was off-line, the abusive behaviours continued to swirl around social media. Not knowing what was being said or by whom added to the problem of not being able to provide the supports to help deal with the situation. In Amanda's case, there were individuals who continued the behaviours in both anonymous and non-anonymous positions. My once-spirited and adventurous child became more reclusive and sad, and she felt alone. On April 14, 2014, the RCMP announced that an arrest had been made in connection to Amanda and an alleged 100 other victims around the world. He is currently awaiting trial in the Netherlands and will be extradited to Canada at the conclusion of those proceedings to face charges on the digital abuse and “sextortion“ that he subjected Amanda to online.

I have had the opportunity to not only travel globally to share her legacy but hopefully also to educate on and create more awareness of the issues and concerns that face our younger generation as well as to provide information to their parents and daily caregivers who can present it to guide them along the path of life.

Someone shared with me how they felt after following Amanda's story and the journey it has taken on itself. She felt that this particular story had touched the hearts and minds of many because of the different pieces that the story contains. When I am up on stage speaking to people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and religions, I can see what she is talking about. Amanda, in her unknowing braveness, has opened herself up not only to share her story but also to expose the different sides of it.

We have come to realize that what happened to Amanda can happen to anyone. As Amanda said, everyone has a story. When those stories come out, and they belong to your child, your relatives, or your grandchildren, they sometimes mean more. We often hear people say, “it won't happen in my family”, “not my child”, or “my teen would never do that”, and until it happens, we can't believe that it could. No one is immune from becoming a statistic. We can't wait for yet another headline, and we can't fall into the trap of saying “not in our family”. We hope that it never happens in any person's family, but sometimes it does. I am proof, and Leah is proof, as are many others, some of whom will be speaking before your committee.

In this 21st century, young girls and women, and young boys and men are dealing with a lot more than we ever did 30 years ago in terms of sexualized behaviours and easy access to sharing intimate information that was once kept in a quiet manner. Amanda's words in her video are her personal victim impact statement. If I could have one wish in the world, it would be to have her with us to share what it meant to her to make it and what she would have expected us to learn from it.

I use the snowflake as an example of how precious, unique, and individual all of our children are. A snowflake is one of a kind. There are no two snowflakes the same. Our children, too, are one of a kind, and no two are the same. A snowflake is brilliant and beautiful, as is each and every one of our children. Sadly, they are all fragile. No matter how tough and strong our modern children appear, or how much they know about technology, they are still our children, and we must take care of them.

Even as teens, when they want to be fully independent, they need a hug, our tenderness, and a safe place to land. As parents and caregivers, that is our job. When we get busy, or are directing our attention to the hundreds of things we have to handle every day, we forget how much the little things mean to us, and to all of us.

Before Amanda died, she surprised me one day by asking why I didn't call her princess snowflake. I didn't realize this was something that she enjoyed

In conclusion, I want to thank all of you for the time and effort you have put into creating laws to address abuse. What is happening in our society also costs the lives of many wonderful Canadian children and young women. Just think how, if you are living in a country like the United States and you get a ticket for speeding, often enough you would have to go to a four-hour to six-hour class in order to watch videos and learn how to behave appropriately. Maybe that is something we need to consider in our country in the future for people who abuse children and young women online.

Speaking for many Canadians who care about our country, I applaud and thank the Canadian government for putting cyber-violence against young girls and women on the agenda and working to develop of better strategies and future outcomes.

I would also like to thank all the communities worldwide that have shown support and for the work they have done. Without everyone's voice, we could not get this issue and topic to be discussed. Looking at media feeds, we can see that we have created a conversation around the world.

On behalf of my daughter and other fellow Canadians, I want the world to be a better place, free of victimization, sexualized crimes, and cyber-violence. We must work together to create a safer place for Canadians to live, because acts of violence against young girls and women are indeed preventable.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

Thank you so much, ladies.

We will now start the questions and comments period with Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much for sharing your story today. We are sorry for your loss. I know you've taken the time today, and your courage to move this issue forward is making a difference all across Canada and the world.

I had a series of questions, but having heard both of you talk and being a parent, I see how powerless we are to a certain extent. What can we do as parents? Do you have one or two recommendations that you would want to share with us as parents?

[Leah Parsons]

Obviously, I would say have lots of conversations with your children about what it means to be responsible when using the Internet, and with that comes stages of responsibility. A lot of parents just give their kid a phone and then they have access to everything. Instead of doing that, start off with very limited access and then talk about being a responsible digital citizen, and continue those conversations and check. A lot of parents just can't keep up with all the apps and everything out there.

I think we need some education and some workshops for parents, for people to share what is out there and what they need to be aware of, because it's hard for parents to stay educated in that way.

[Carol Todd]

I have three more pages, but I won't read them all. I'll only read the titles that I thought about because I've been thinking about solutions and ways that we can work on this as a society.

It's building awareness and capacity through education, curriculum, social empathy, and healthy relationships. It's talking about reporting and law enforcement. If something happens and it's reported, what's going to happen after it has been reported? I hear from so many families who say they've reported it, and their kids have just been told to get off the Internet. What's the next step? I own that loss, and I share that with them.

There are survivor stories: We hear of lots of people, individuals who have been victimized, young girls, young women, young boys, and men. We need to listen to their stories, listen to how they survived, hear about what brought them resiliency and strength. Let's learn from their stories.

Social media and the Internet: Social media networks need to work more on their safety impacts, what they're doing, and how they're doing it.

With regard to pornography on the Internet, more research and widespread research needs to be done on the impact on young boys of watching pornography and how that is rewiring the structures of their brain and how they're behaving. Once again, it goes back to behaviours and relationships.

We need to shift societal norms so we can freely talk about these issues, because without being able to freely talk about them, we can't come to any solutions that have a definite, positive nature.

We need to ask our young people for input, because young people listen to young people. They don't always listen to us older people who may be a bit wiser, but we can definitely get our young people to take on more of a leadership role.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

On that note, regarding the age, we heard earlier that the RCMP did a consultation with 13-year-olds and older adolescents. We have our own committee, the status of women, talking about 15- to 20-year-olds. What are your thoughts about having those conversations earlier? In Ontario, sex education was in the curriculum, and that created some controversy about age. What are your thoughts, both of you, on the age to start that consultation?

[Leah Parsons]

I feel that you do have to start younger, because they know a lot more than we think they do and they do have access to so much at a younger age.

I was asked to speak at a school once for grade 5 and 6, whereas it's usually junior high and high school that I go to. At first I was a little hesitant but, when I went in there and asked them how many had cell phones, 85% of their hands went up, and that was grade 5. Of course, you have to change your language a little bit, but they know way more than we think they do, so having them out there with only peer support sharing and not adult guidance is very dangerous. I do believe that younger is a good way to start.

[Carol Todd]

We definitely have to go younger, and I also have gone into classrooms to speak to 7-year-olds and 8-year-olds. We are even seeing 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds in shopping carts with their parents' devices and tools. So these kids know their way around technology way better than all of us do, but they need to understand the appropriate behaviours and respect. That's why we're teaching more about resiliency and human relationships in the classrooms, because when a motor vehicle is involved in an accident we don't blame the car; it's the driver. When we talk about technology and we talk about applications—Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or whatever—it's not really the application but the behaviour behind the technology that's driving what's going to happen to that next person. We really need to talk with our children about how emotions and relationships and behaviours impact us, and we can do that with kids as young as three and four years old in preschool, in kindergarten, and in grade 1, because it all starts way back there.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

You probably don't have time to answer, Mrs. Parsons, but you mentioned bill C-13 earlier and the disconnection with law enforcement. Could you expand a bit on?

[Leah Parsons]

I get a lot of messages from people who are reaching out for help, who say that their image is out there and that they went to the police. Just recently in Nova Scotia, not even two weeks ago, a young lady's intimate images were online and the police did not know about the bill, and they told her there was nothing they could do to help her because she shared the image in the first place with somebody. It was really, really upsetting to see that the agencies...and I know that some agencies do know, because I also hear from people who say they went to the police and they went right into the school and they knew about the bill. But it's in pockets; it's not uniform. Everyone doesn't know, even within police agencies.

That's just feedback that I get on a regular basis, so I was really upset when that came to my attention a couple of weeks ago. Here we are, and they didn't even know. Now they've turned around and apologized and they've come forward.

[The Chair, Conservative, Marilyn Gladu]

That's your time. I'm sorry.