By Bijan Rafii, M. Sc.
Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Men and Families-York Region
Traditionally men and boys have not been designated as a group needing help, based on the perception that men are already socially and financially empowered and highly represented in the top 1% of our society. While it’s important to look at the gender composition at the very top, it’s equally important to consider the gender breakdown at those at the bottom of our society where men and boys are also highly over-represented.
Men in Canada represent 60% of the homeless population; 75% of the suicide victims; 90% of the incarcerated; 40% of victims of intimate partner violence; have 2-3 times the rates of alcohol and cannabis dependence than women; men and boys have much lower educational attainment than women and girls; have 4 times the rate of homicide and 3 times the rate of aggravated assault victimization versus women. In terms of health outcomes, men died sooner than women (4-5 years sooner in Canada) and from 14 top cancer types, men are over represented in 12.
These statistics do not only impact men and boys. Each statistic also impacts families and communities as a whole. Consider suicide. About 100,000 Canadian families are devastated after losing a male loved one every generation. Each person in prison represents a cost to a victim, as well as a cost to the justice system and to the taxpayer; and, through the loss of a citizen’s potential contribution, to the society as a whole.
Progressive societies have done a good job of identifying disadvantaged groups such as women and girls, visible minorities, indigenous, and gender minorities. Even within these groups men generally have not been acknowledged as requiring support. Consider the Black Lives Matter movement. There is little recognition of the fact that it is overwhelmingly Black men whose lives are affected by violence and racial profiling. There are three times the number of missing and murdered indigenous men and boys versus women and girls. Indigenous communities have the highest rate of suicide in Canada and the vast majority of the victims are men and boys.
Ignoring men and boys’ mental health has a tremendous cost to our society, as exemplified by the case of the 2018 van attacker, Alek Minassian, who killed 11 people in North York (Ontarion, Canada) in 2018. We react to these cases first with shock and understandably with contempt for the perpetrator. We must also be willing to look dispassionately at targeted mental health programming for young men to more effectively engage them so they better cope with crises and make healthy decisions. This is the best strategy to minimize recurrence of these tragedies.
Part of reluctance to provide more targeted funding for men and boys has been due to the prevalence of the myth that men and boys are a difficult group to engage as they are less likely to seek or accept help. But our experience of working with many, many men has shown that what is missing is a safe space and adequate targeted funding. Once you build safe and welcoming space for men and boys they will come, and become engaged. Just as women, LGTBQ and other groups who are more comfortable to come for help in safe spaces designated for them, men and boys require the same, safe, designated programs and spaces. Currently, these spaces are few or non-existent.
We also need to be willing to look at our social policies honestly, based on data and evidence and without regard to gender ideologies even though these inconvenient truths can be tough to accept. For example, children in fatherless homes underperform children who have a strong and healthy relationship with their father. A vast body of research since the 1970s has consistently indicated that children who lose a dad experience negative outcomes: higher suicide rates, teen pregnancy, drug addiction, criminality and homelessness. Thirty-eight percent of marriages in Canada end in divorce. Only 20-30% of children in those families are in an equal shared co-parenting arrangement and generally the rest do not have sufficient contact with the non-residential parent (usually the Dad) due to outdated gender stereotypes. Family laws are a good example of policies we need to seriously rethink.
On this International Men’s Day we should deeply reflect on what we can do in terms of better targeted investment on men and boys mental health as well as better social policies to ensure our greater prosperity.
We Cannot Achieve Prosperity Without Targeted Investing in Men’s Mental Health
By Bijan Rafii, M. Sc.
Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Men and Families-York Region
Traditionally men and boys have not been designated as a group needing help, based on the perception that men are already socially and financially empowered and highly represented in the top 1% of our society. While it’s important to look at the gender composition at the very top, it’s equally important to consider the gender breakdown at those at the bottom of our society where men and boys are also highly over-represented.
Men in Canada represent 60% of the homeless population; 75% of the suicide victims; 90% of the incarcerated; 40% of victims of intimate partner violence; have 2-3 times the rates of alcohol and cannabis dependence than women; men and boys have much lower educational attainment than women and girls; have 4 times the rate of homicide and 3 times the rate of aggravated assault victimization versus women. In terms of health outcomes, men died sooner than women (4-5 years sooner in Canada) and from 14 top cancer types, men are over represented in 12.
These statistics do not only impact men and boys. Each statistic also impacts families and communities as a whole. Consider suicide. About 100,000 Canadian families are devastated after losing a male loved one every generation. Each person in prison represents a cost to a victim, as well as a cost to the justice system and to the taxpayer; and, through the loss of a citizen’s potential contribution, to the society as a whole.
Progressive societies have done a good job of identifying disadvantaged groups such as women and girls, visible minorities, indigenous, and gender minorities. Even within these groups men generally have not been acknowledged as requiring support. Consider the Black Lives Matter movement. There is little recognition of the fact that it is overwhelmingly Black men whose lives are affected by violence and racial profiling. There are three times the number of missing and murdered indigenous men and boys versus women and girls. Indigenous communities have the highest rate of suicide in Canada and the vast majority of the victims are men and boys.
Ignoring men and boys’ mental health has a tremendous cost to our society, as exemplified by the case of the 2018 van attacker, Alek Minassian, who killed 11 people in North York (Ontarion, Canada) in 2018. We react to these cases first with shock and understandably with contempt for the perpetrator. We must also be willing to look dispassionately at targeted mental health programming for young men to more effectively engage them so they better cope with crises and make healthy decisions. This is the best strategy to minimize recurrence of these tragedies.
Part of reluctance to provide more targeted funding for men and boys has been due to the prevalence of the myth that men and boys are a difficult group to engage as they are less likely to seek or accept help. But our experience of working with many, many men has shown that what is missing is a safe space and adequate targeted funding. Once you build safe and welcoming space for men and boys they will come, and become engaged. Just as women, LGTBQ and other groups who are more comfortable to come for help in safe spaces designated for them, men and boys require the same, safe, designated programs and spaces. Currently, these spaces are few or non-existent.
We also need to be willing to look at our social policies honestly, based on data and evidence and without regard to gender ideologies even though these inconvenient truths can be tough to accept. For example, children in fatherless homes underperform children who have a strong and healthy relationship with their father. A vast body of research since the 1970s has consistently indicated that children who lose a dad experience negative outcomes: higher suicide rates, teen pregnancy, drug addiction, criminality and homelessness. Thirty-eight percent of marriages in Canada end in divorce. Only 20-30% of children in those families are in an equal shared co-parenting arrangement and generally the rest do not have sufficient contact with the non-residential parent (usually the Dad) due to outdated gender stereotypes. Family laws are a good example of policies we need to seriously rethink.
On this International Men’s Day we should deeply reflect on what we can do in terms of better targeted investment on men and boys mental health as well as better social policies to ensure our greater prosperity.