Thank you for that really important question. It's truly appreciated.
I would like to say that one thing we do through the sex trade offender program is ask the men to fill in their adverse childhood experiences. It's an overview of what things can happen in childhood that might lead to actions and health issues in their lives. We find that at least 40% to 45% have had some significant adverse childhood experiences. Others have not. That's where we can get a better handle of, let's just call it misogyny, patriarchy and attitudes towards girls and women. It gives us a basis to move forward in terms of education.
I think it's really important to educate about consent and what that truly means everywhere. The other thing that's important is to really look at what we ask of boys and men in our society.
I live in Alberta. We have a resource-based economy. We take men away from their families and their communities. They work in camps. Sometimes the work itself can be very mind-numbing, and they look for ways to fill the voids, the loneliness and, maybe, relationships that have broken because they are away for so long. We need to look at ways to work with the different corporations and the camps and see how we can turn around what has become unhealthy behaviour, including sexual addiction, gambling addiction, drug addiction and alcohol addiction. Shift that into a healthier masculinity.
I'm very encouraged that there are young men who are leading this way and talking about what it means to be healthy and positive males, and not engage in toxic behaviour.
I'm encouraged that we're having more conversations. We need to bring this out and not normalize using girls and women to fill their own gaps in their lives.