Madam Chair, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in tonight's important debate on the Parliament of Canada's response to the disturbing rise in gender-based violence that we are seeing across our country.
Before I get to my remarks on this motion, I want to start by offering my sincere condolences to the families of the seven women in Quebec who recently lost their lives in heinous acts of gender-based violence and to all of those who have been affected by this kind of violence in our country. Canada mourns their loss and their pain. On behalf of at-risk young women across this country, I will be supporting this motion.
Tonight I would like to talk specifically about the part of the motion that calls on Canadians to do more to combat the problem of gender-based violence. When it comes to ending violence against women, we need to look at some of the root causes, and one of the most glaringly obvious cause that we seem to gloss over here is the prevalence of violent pornography. The fact that anybody in the country can log in to Pornhub and watch videos of women being raped is a serious problem that we need to address.
Boys as young as 10 and 11 years old are easily able to access pornography, which has a massive impact on their developing brains and poisons their attitudes toward women. According to a 2010 study that analyzed 304 scenes from best-selling pornography videos, almost 90% of scenes contained physical aggression, while nearly 50% contained verbal aggression primarily aimed at humiliation and degradation. How are we allowing this to be made so easily available? How can we allow young men to grow up consuming this horrific material and expect to have a society where women are treated with the respect and honour they deserve? Why is it acceptable for men to get pleasure out of watching women being abused? Men are not born to hate women and see them as objects. The attitudes and behaviours that lead to gender-based violence are learned. We are never going to be able to protect women without addressing the root causes.
I watched in horror the ethics committee testimony of David Tassillo and Feras Antoon, two men who sat there in front of all of Canada as if they were merely a couple of simple businessmen. These men are profiting off the complete humiliation of women, many of them minors. They talked about ensuring the best quality experience for their customers. They said they wanted to be the best in the world at providing online entertainment, but let us be clear: This is online entertainment that traps women in a web of shame and helplessness, online entertainment that teaches men to view sex as nothing more than a transaction they can pay for on demand.
It is absolutely no wonder that a young, wealthy, elite politician's son could come to the conclusion that groping a female reporter is perfectly acceptable. It is no wonder that he believes he experienced things differently than she did. Of course he did. When we regularly portray women as objects, taking that object in hand is no different than grabbing a beer from the fridge.
It is sad that tonight that when we come here to debate the terrible scourge of violence against women, it seems that we women are again being used, that this debate might have an ulterior motive lurking below the surface. I am hoping that our words here tonight will be more than noisy gongs and clanging cymbals, that we really care about those vulnerable daughters and granddaughters who have met death far too early at the hands of an abuser.
I am here to stand for young women across this country. I am here to stand for my daughters and my unborn granddaughter. I want them to know they are far more than an object to be used and discarded like yesterday's trash. They are precious jewels. Their bodies are more valuable than gold. Their ability to love and care for others is immeasurable. They should ignore the message that is hammered into their heads by the media and popular culture day after day. They are not objects. They are not for sale. They do not deserve to be treated as trash. They are priceless.
Together, with all Canadians, let us be the catalyst for building a better world for our daughters and granddaughters, as well as our sons and grandsons. We can do this and it just takes beginning right here.
