Male Violence

I want to talk about male violence. Have you ever heard that term? It's so prevalent in our society and yet, as a term, it's not widely used. I first heard it used in Kathleen Hannah's book Rebel Girl. She had determined after a lifetime of being affected by it, that it shaped much of her life. 

And yet, googling it brings only results that deal with another topic - domestic violence against men. That's not what I'm referring to here. Male violence is acts of aggression and harm perpetrated by men, often rooted in cultural norms of masculinity that promote dominance, control, and power over others using sexual, emotional and physical harm. 

We need to talk more about male violence, given the several acts of male violence we've seen in our city, province, country and the world this week alone.

I work in health & safety and in that field when we face a hazard, the first step is to remove the hazard. If elimination isn't possible, you move onto the next step in the hierarchy of controls.

We can't eliminate men, and as we've been told repeatedly, it's not all men. So how do we eliminate dangerous men that perpetuate harm on children and society at large? This is a theme Miriam Toews book Women Talking (movie by Sarah Polley) explored so incredibly. How to determine which men are dangerous, and how do we reckon that with our growing sons?

Before I go into ways society uses this framework when dealing with male violence, I'd like to point out that all of these controls place the onus of safety onto the potential victim and not on PREVENTING THE PERPETRATORS BEHAVIOUR. How do we prevent the perpetators behaviour?

Early detection.

If we educate women on self-defense, but do not educate men on how to recognize harmful behaviours and dangerous thinking that could lead to non-consensual rape and violence, then we have a societal problem. 

What I'm suggesting is deep, social, cultural and educational reforms involving: 

- recognizing harmful thoughts in men

- watching for patterns of dangerous thoughts and behaviours

- early detection and a measuring tool

- Measuring hostile masculinity, ambivalent sexism, rape myth acceptance, empathy quotients in a clinical setting

-preventing access to illegal pornography and convicting criminals for accessing illegal pornography

Here's a list of what society currently does in response to male violence

Elimination: Remove the hazard. 

This is done when we outright ban men from using women-only spaces. Change rooms, bathrooms, gyms, women-only trains in countries where male violence is prevalent. 
(This is also weaponized by the right - as a tool to alienate and trans people despite all of society knowing they're not why we separate men and women. We separate men and women in these spaces due to male violence. The irony that this same group tends to encourage male violence in other parts of society is lost on them). Clip from Women Talking

Substitution: Replace the hazard. 

The only example I can think of in this moment, is when society places women in roles that work with vulnerable populations and require a certain amount of care and protection. Nurses and teachers tend to be more female-heavy fields, and perhaps this is why. We lean towards vulnerable populations being taken care of by the safer alternative. Of course women can also perpetuate violence, however, statistically, they're less likely to.

To volunteer at my child's school I must complete a police-record check, despite being the mother of a child in the school. This is a tool to prevent violent men into an institution of vulnerable children. 

Engineering Controls: Isolate people from the hazard. 

Physical controls

Environmental Design:
Street lights, Blue light emergency phones on campuses, "Eyes on the street" designs in neighbourhoods. 

Creating Barriers:
Security systems, reinforced doors, window locks, separate sleeping quarters in institutions like prisons, military barracks. 

Administrative Controls

Restraining orders, workplace policies for violence and harassment, GPS monitoring of high-risk offenders, "Ask for Angela" - or other societal nightlife codes enacting bar staff to help someone at high risk of vicimization, courtroom separate entrances for victims and perpetrators, ride-sharing safety features. 

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal safety devices: bear spray, alarms, carrying small weapons for self protection, cell phones, drug test kits (for drink spiking).

Education

Educating the victim on safety, to always be aware of your surroundings, avoid taking drugs that can impair your judgement etc. Self-defense classes, often available in highschool or college to teach ways to fight off an attacker. 

At the end of the day, I want everyone to take a good look at all we do to prevent harm from male violence in our daily life, and ask ourselves if we're doing enough educating with our young men, seeing as education is how we deal with many societal issues. Ask yourself, are there opportunities to put the burden back onto the perpetrators instead of the victims? Teaching empathy and educating men on how to recognize harmful thoughts might be the key. 

I'd also like to point out that high-quality controls (home security systems, safe housing, personal devices) are often inaccessible to the most vulnerable (low-income, homeless, children in the foster system, marginalized communities). This may be why the most vulnerable communities are often the most likely to become victims of male violence. 

Normalize discussing male violence. 

UPDATE:

Today at the House of Commons in Ottawa, Ontario, they're discussing Bill-16. Here's a summary of how this bill will help victims of male violence. 

Bill C-16, also known as the Protecting Victims Act (introduced in December 2025), is designed to combat male violence—specifically intimate partner violence and gender-based violence—by reforming the Criminal Code to allow for earlier intervention and stricter penalties. The legislation addresses the reality that the majority of domestic violence perpetrators are men, and it aims to bridge gaps in the legal system that often overlook patterns of abuse until they become fatal. 

Here is how Bill C-16 helps address the problem of male violence, based on its proposed measures:

• Criminalizing Coercive Control: A key aspect of the bill is the creation of a new offence prohibiting patterns of coercive or controlling behaviour against an intimate partner. This targets actions like monitoring movements, controlling finances, and threatening to harm pets or children, allowing authorities to intervene before physical violence escalates to murder.
• Defining and Prosecuting Femicide: The bill classifies murders involving sexual violence, exploitation, or a pattern of coercive control as first-degree murder (femicide). This applies even if there was no prior planning or deliberation, ensuring the harshest penalties for men who commit such violence.
• Strengthening Penalties for Sexual and Digital Violence:
  • Revenge Porn and Deepfakes: The maximum penalty for distributing non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated "deepfakes," is doubled to 10 years.
  • Increased Sentences: The penalty for sexual assault on summary conviction is increased, and new, higher penalties are created for threatening to distribute intimate images.
• Improving Victim Protection and Testimonial Aids: The bill gives victims "presumptive access" to testimonial aids, such as using a support person or animal in court, making it less traumatic to testify against abusers.
• Targeting Online Predators and Child Luring: The legislation tackles online exploitation by criminalizing the threat to distribute child sexual abuse material and addressing the grooming of children, aiming to reduce the risk of violence from online predators.
• Addressing Legal Delays: The legislation aims to prevent cases from being stayed (dropped) due to unreasonable court delays, ensuring that men accused of violent offences are held accountable rather than having cases thrown out. 

While proponents highlight these changes as crucial steps toward reducing male violence by strengthening legal, political, and societal understanding of the continuum of violence, critics note that, while these measures improve the response after violence occurs, they must be paired with efforts to engage men and boys to stop the violence before it begins.