Gary Haugen speaks to one of the major issues holding future gains: violence.

There are still two billion people struggling on two dollars a day. Correspondingly, despite all of the efforts of sponsorship, foreign aid and micro loans, aid haven’t stopped the incredible amount of violence that happens around the world everyday. As a result, this violence limits the chances people have at getting out of poverty. So then, how to stop the violence against women and children especially? And how can we encourage men to stand up for integrity?

Gary’s solution is to develop successful criminal justice systems in developing nations. His theory is that violence, which we in the more developed countries are privileged not to face, can end with better systems.

Although I agree that this is a viable solution, the other question that comes up for me is, why are these men (and many of them are men) committing these unspeakable crimes of assault and rape towards women and children? What is happening in the psychology of men that brings them to a place where they believe they can do these things.

The work I do with men is to help them become more connected to themselves and thus open them to more of who they are.

My belief is that channeling anger, sadness, shame and grief in healthy ways allows men to move through these energies and not express them in violence. Furthermore, I also believe that the system of enculturation that is in American culture and in cultures around the world must change so that boys are no longer seeing women in unhealthy ways.

I agree with Gary and believe that creating criminal justice systems is an important step. Even deeper to the issue is challenging our views about what it means to be a man on this planet. We need to teach young boys that one of the most fundamental ways they can show respect to themselves is by respecting the people around them. We need to teach boys about how to live in integrity.

I want to make it clear that the violence Gary is speaking of is not a developing country issue. It is a planetary issue.

The difference, according to Gary, is that in the more developed world, there is a way of protecting ourselves from the greed and violence of others. Men (who choose these behaviors) in Africa, South East Asia or Central America are not more prone to this violence. They just have less in their way.

Maybe this is the TED talk that I want to give. With this in mind, we need to have more of this conversation on how to stop the violence against women and children. And, how to help men, young and adult, live in integrity, Contact me.