a letter to our nation

Somewhere between 15 and 18 years ago I wrote my first batch of songs. The lyrics to the chorus of one of them are as follows:

we the abused we stand accused - of crimes committed against us

My name is john teevins. I am a 39 year old survivor of physical, emotional and sexual violence and I am a full time smoker.
I am requesting that you and anyone who knows me or hears about me to please demand that our government take IMMEDIATE and DECISIVE action regarding 2 specific areas of our public health care system:
1) PROACTIVE NATION WIDE SERVICES FOR MALE VICTIMS OF
PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
2) PUBLIC IN-PATIENT NICOTINE ADDICTION REHABILITATION
CLINICS
i have read that there are over 4.5 million smokers in Canada

I've heard it repeated over the years that 1 in 5 males have been victimized sexually. In order to better understand this 1 in 5 ratio I went to Statistics Canada and looked up our population by sex and marital status. According to the table I looked at - in 2007 there was a total of 16,332,277 males in Canada so if 1 in 5 has been abused that’s approximately 3,266,455 injured men
The same table showed 7,910,554 married men in 2007
If 1 in 5 of them have been victimized that’s approximately 1,582,110 husbands

Thing is, I have been and still am receiving focused, trustworthy, loving and professional help for the first time in my life and the positive results are astounding. Yet the help comes a minimum of 28 years late. Though I am in a city that actually has a program specific to male survivors, most local health care professionals I turned to did not even know of its existence. These are some of the many factors leading to my decision to demand action now. I have accepted that since adolescence or earlier I have been experiencing disordered eating. My disordered eating started as a by product of trauma related pain and confusion that I am only learning to comprehend now. This is where things get tricky for myself and the people who are helping me...I have also realized that a major part of my resistance to eating is a deep need to take a stand;
a stand firm enough to force an awareness of:
the injustice of continuing to collect taxes on a hideously addictive substance that I and millions of others cannot escape from on our own and
the injustice of our modernized society and families not only ignoring but oppressing abused males right to speak freely enough to even risk asking for help and
the injustice of collecting and spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars while mostly ignoring what should be classified as a national crisis - millions of injured male Canadians

What to do?

At a young age I learned about leverage and its uses in moving large rocks.
I have to take a stand that will be very hard to ignore.
I am 5 feet 9 inches tall and only weigh 128lbs wet.
I tell you now -- I have been on a partial hunger strike for many years already -but now I am making it a public stance.
If I and the millions of silently suffering men and boys I choose to represent are ignored this time I will move to a complete hunger strike -- symbolizing that Canadian society does not respect or value a good man’s life potential, nor that of those who love and depend on him.

I challenge the media to get this message to Canadians everywhere, including those remote areas where isolation is most complete and to please help people understand how easy it is to contact their government representatives

Once more I am requesting that you contact the government right away and as often as required to be understood:
WE WANT IMMEDIATE AND DECISIVE ACTION REGARDING:
1) PROACTIVE SERVICES FOR MALE VICTIMS OF PHYSICAL,
EMOTIONAL
AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
2) PUBLIC IN-PATIENT NICOTINE ADDICTION AND REHABILITATION
CLINICS

I challenge Canadians to act upon the above mentioned request sooner than later.
I cannot challenge adult survivors to participate in making these demands for themselves…but please realize this;
Millions of men united in their request is not something any government can afford to ignore!
peace,
john teevins

p.s. even as word gets about that we believe in and value our men and boys enough to take a stand their behalf -- we will all be engaging in a deep and meaningful act of national healing as well as making positive connections long over due as families, friends, and citizens of this nation.