Good morning.

First of all, it's a real honour to be with all of you today.

Ninety-nine per cent of perpetrators of sexual violence toward women and girls are men.

Ideologically motivated violent extremism now has its own category of gender-based violence, with 75% of profiles belonging to boys and men.

Boys who are bullied are overrepresented in misogynistic, hate-fuelled mass murders, and research has shown that online communities that promote radical extremism are directly linked to real-life violence.

Unchallenged bullying in boys leads to men who assault.

Ninety per cent of all sex extortion victims are boys and young men.

My name is Humberto Carolo. I'm the chief executive officer at White Ribbon. I am a member of the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces' external advisory group for the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre. I'm also a member of the Ontario Government's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee.

I am based in Toronto, on the traditional territory of many indigenous nations, including Anishinabe, Huron-Wendat, Seneca and the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Today, I'm appearing as the CEO of White Ribbon, a Canadian charitable organization that engages men and boys in the prevention of gender-based violence.

It's important to point out the stark realities that exist for men and boys, and the impact of those realities on women and girls and gender-diverse people. Sadly, we continue to socialize our boys and men to be prone to perpetrate violence, and then wonder why our collective efforts aren't reducing the rate and prevalence of gender-based violence.

Gender-based violence and femicide are issues of prime importance to me, professionally and personally, as I have dedicated my professional life to its eradication. As a boy and young man, I grew up with this violence, watching the women I love experience that violence at home and in my community. I am an adoptive dad of three young men who lost their birth family to poverty, addictions and domestic violence. I stand in solidarity with those of you who have been directly impacted by this violence, and I pledge to support your calls for justice and action.

Another way of life for men and boys is possible. White Ribbon's vision of our future is one free of all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination. This isn't a theoretical or idealistic goal but one that is absolutely achievable within a fully resourced, long-term, multi-faceted prevention plan that focuses across the lifespan.

Findings from Ontario's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee coroner's inquests have repeatedly shown that gender-based violence is not only predictable but also preventable. Yet, primary prevention is significantly underfunded. In our 33-plus years of existence, White Ribbon still does not have core funding. Primary prevention saves lives. It heals. It changes people's life paths. It creates new societal expectations of acceptance, non-violence and equity. It focuses on the root cause—the unhealthy socialization of men and boys.

Gender-based violence is perpetrated almost entirely by men, young men and boys who were taught, enabled and, in many cases, victimized, traumatized and moulded over countless generations to adhere to attitudes, behaviours and social norms of unhealthy masculinities. These intergenerational life lessons inform how men and boys act in the world, and our society's expectations of them. However, we can create a better future.

A long-term multi-faceted prevention strategy is needed, one that reaches into our homes to help men accept accountability, to develop the skills of healthy relationships and to benefit from fatherhood and role model programming. It also offers healing support to boys and young men who have witnessed violence.

We need our schools to equip them with strength-based positive programming to foster resilience and capacity in boys and male educators. We need our sports to promote healthy masculinities, equity, safety and respect for women, and the fair recognition of women in sports. We need to change the deeply entrenched, sexist, hyper-masculine norms, views and attitudes of the online toxic ecosystems and to inoculate against the harmful influences through building resistance, reducing a person's tendency to support the ideology, and reducing the credibility of deeply misogynistic and hateful influencers.

Extensive school resources, parenting education and social media campaigns are needed. Our workplaces need to implement best practices of male allyship, bystander intervention education, training for management and staff, and a holistic approach that supports survivors, enhances policies and utilizes public education campaigns.

Our communities need to offer community-based programming that teaches and role-models healthy masculinities at each stage of development for boys and young men. We need our social norms to help boys and men to increase their emotional IQ, enable them to understand and adhere to equity values, develop strong skills in empathy and compassion, and normalize healthy masculinities.

I started this speech with some pretty jarring statistics to demonstrate the gender aspect of who is perpetrating this violence. Primary prevention efforts that focus on changing social norms in men's and boys' attitudes and behaviours are the exact way we change our culture, so that gender-based violence stops and is not carried on by the next generation. It's the formula for creating our future free of gender-based violence.

Let's confine gender-based violence and femicides to Canada's history and create the world we all desire for ourselves and for generations to come.

Thank you very much. Meegwetch.

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