Groups Call on UN General Assembly to Adopt Resolution to Eliminate Domestic Violence Against Men

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Stewart: 513-479-3335

Groups Call on UN General Assembly to Adopt Resolution to Eliminate Domestic Violence Against Men

WASHINGTON / September 21, 2022 – The member organizations of the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance (DAVIA) are calling on the United Nations General Assembly to pass a resolution in support of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Men (1). The global event will be observed on November 18, 2022.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights upholds the principle of equal rights for men and women (2):

Article 2: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,….”
Article 3: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
Article 7: “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.”

Despite these statements, the United Nations has repeatedly ignored the widespread problem of domestic violence against men:

1993: “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women” (3)
Resolution 52/86 of 1997: “Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Measures to Eliminate Violence against Women” (4)
Resolution 54/134 of 2000: “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.” (5)

Domestic violence against men represents a hidden epidemic around the world. A compilation of 343 scholarly investigations concluded that “women are as physically aggressive as men (or more) in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners.” (6)

These studies were conducted on a broad range of racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups in the following 40 countries: Australia, Belgium, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Taiwan, Ukraine, United States, and Venezuela. The research found similar rates of domestic violence committed by men and women alike.

The neglect of domestic violence against men represents a severe human rights travesty that the United Nations General Assembly needs to remedy.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Men will complement and amplify the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to be observed on November 25.

The recent trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard revealed that Heard was repeatedly abusive of Depp, both physically and psychologically. On one occasion, Heard hurled a glass mug at Depp, severing the end of his finger (7).

Citations: