#16Days of Activism: UN Women Must Halt DV Disinformation Campaign

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

#16Days of Activism: UN Women Must Halt Domestic Violence Disinformation Campaign

December 1, 2023 – Richard Spencer was forced to wear makeup to conceal the bruises that his wife Sheree had inflicted. After suffering from the abuse for two decades, Richard took the case to court. The judge recently sentenced the woman to four years in prison, saying the woman’s actions were the “worst case of controlling and coercive behavior” he had ever witnessed (1).

Richard Spencer’s nightmare is not unusual or unique. Hundreds of research studies conducted around the world reveal similar levels of domestic violence perpetrated by men and women. One review of 343 scholarly investigations in 40 countries concluded, “women are as physically aggressive as men (or more) in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners.” (2). These issues are explored in a newly released documentary, “MEN TOO: Male Victims of Domestic Violence” (3).

Despite these well-documented facts, UN Women has launched a Twitter campaign, as part of its #16Days of Activism campaign, that erases the existence of male victims of abuse (4). These are a few examples of such one-sided statements:

#NOEXCUSE: Women’s Safety Isn’t Optional”
A “culture of violence against women & girls”
“Without dedicated investment, countries will not achieve the target to eliminate violence against women and girls globally by 2030.”

Other claims are demonstrably false, such as the tweet that says violence against women “Is the Most Widespread Human Rights Violation in the World.” The truth is, nearly twice as many males as females are killed by injuries and violence each year, according to the World Health Organization (5).

The UN General Assembly issued a resolution in 2021 about the need to curb disinformation (6). More recently, the Secretary-General issued a report on “Countering Disinformation for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” that highlights how disinformation undermines the quest for human rights for all (7).

The UN Women’s disinformation campaign serves to vitiate the human rights of male victims of abuse by denying them the same level of services as female victims (8).

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance urges United Nations agencies to assure that all communications and programs related to domestic violence provide an accurate, complete, and truthful picture of the problem of domestic violence.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 112 member organizations from 33 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and sex-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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