New women’s minister says place lens on men in order to combat gender-based violence

Nov 4, 2021 | 9:46 AM

OTTAWA — Freshly appointed Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien says as part of her effort to combat gender-based violence she intends to place a lens on men to understand why it happens in the first place.

She says the issue is among her priorities for the department because it is “clearly unacceptable,” and she wants to not only support women but focus on men to figure out the root causes of the problem.

The minister says her department will continue to conduct research on gender-based violence so that they understand the issue, identify gaps and find areas of improvement.

Gender equality advocates have been sounding the alarm on a rise in gender-based violence during the pandemic, a trend which the United Nations has referred to as a “shadow pandemic.”