Statement made on 29 October 2009 by Senator Claudette Tardif
Hon. Claudette Tardif (Deputy Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, I rise today to congratulate Ms. Glori Meldrum, the chair and founder of Little Warriors for winning the Ernst & Young 2009 Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. This truly inspiring Canadian is from my home city of Edmonton.
In addition to being a Little Warrior, Glori Meldrum is a successful entrepreneur, mother, wife and philanthropist. She owns and operates a successful advertising agency and web development company. Her work incorporates a strong sense of corporate responsibility and giving back to her community. This community sense has allowed her the opportunity to work on special projects for local non-profit organizations including The Good Samaritan Society, the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Little Warriors.
In March last year, Ms. Meldrum launched Little Warriors, a Canadian charitable organization with a focus on educating adults on the prevention, recognition and responsible reaction to child sexual abuse. Little Warriors also provides information about the prevalence and frequency of child sexual abuse, and information about healing and support resources.
Ms. Meldrum has been raising awareness on the facts that child sexual abuse happens in our communities every single day. Indeed, child sexual abuse crosses all boundaries, including but not limited to, age, ethnicity, gender, geographical area and social class.
Honourable senators, one in three girls experiences an unwanted sexual act at an average age of 12. One in six boys experiences an unwanted sexual act at the average age of four. A disquieting 95 per cent of child sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator. These facts tell an alarming story. Something must be done to stop this evil from harming our children, grandchildren and our future generations.
Little Warriors is standing up for our kids by supporting sexually abused children and their families, and by educating adults. Standing up for our kids means taking leadership for their protection. It means taking leadership for the promotion of their rights in society and of their right to be free from abuse. Together, we can all stand up for our kids.
I urge all honourable senators to look up www.littlewarriors.ca and inform themselves on the scourge of child sexual abuse.
Thank you Glori for bringing forward the issues concerning child sexual abuse, adult education and prevention. Canadians across the nation need your strength and vision to end child sexual abuse.