Abusegate: 10-Year Suppression of the Truth on Domestic Violence by the Washington Post

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Hain

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Abusegate: 10-Year Suppression of the Truth on Domestic Violence by the Washington Post

WASHINGTON / February 9, 2023 – Recent exposés reveal that leading media outlets have collaborated with advocacy groups and government agencies to promote false narratives regarding the COVID pandemic, purported Russian influence on presidential campaigns, and other topics (1, 2). In like manner, the Washington Post has published a series of articles on domestic violence in recent years that systematically distort and falsify the truth.

Regarding partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking of men, the Centers for Disease Control reports that “Male victimization is a significant public health problem” (3). Each year, 6.4 million men and 5.6 million women are victims of physical violence by an intimate partner (4). This conclusion echoes the findings of hundreds of peer-reviewed studies conducted in countries around the world (5).

But over the last decade, the Washington Post has published a series of articles that ignored domestic violence against men. The one-sided accounts often relied on emotion-laden anecdotes designed to alarm readers and bias debates of policy-makers:

May 10, 2013: “Conference Shines Light on Plight of Battered Mothers Seeking Custody” (6). Ignored the fact that many of the conference presenters were documented to have made claims that were fraudulent (7).
December 18, 2018: “Amber Heard: I Spoke Up Against Sexual Violence, and Faced Our Culture’s Wrath. That Has to Change.” (8). Dismissed the fact that Amber Heard herself had, on previous occasions, engaged in partner violence against Depp and her former female partner (9). The editorial resulted in Heard’s agreement to pay $1 million to Depp for defamation.
December 29, 2021: “The Pandemic Caused a Global Surge in Domestic Violence. For Victims with Few Options, Abuse has Become the New Normal.” (10) Disregarded the fact that reliable reports showed the number of calls to hotlines, requests for police calls for service, and domestic violence crimes indicated no increase during the COVID lockdown period (11).
January 18, 2022: “Senators are Pushing to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Will it Help Indigenous Communities?” (12). Dismissed the Department of Justice report that found nearly identical levels of domestic violence against indigenous men and women (13).
February 17, 2022: “More than 1 in 4 Women Have Experienced Domestic Violence in Their Lifetimes, Global Study Finds” (14). Sidestepped the fact that the global study only surveyed women, thereby invalidating the study conclusions (15).
October 20, 2022: “Domestic Violence Victim Advocates on Case Uptick During Pandemic” (16). Made the implausible and false claim that domestic violence against women reached “record levels around the world as lockdowns took effect to curb COVID-19.” (11)
January 3, 2023: “Climate Change Puts More Women at Risk for Domestic Violence” (17). Cites three studies that purport to show a link between climate change and domestic violence. But in a crass attempt to bias their conclusions, the studies excluded males from their study samples (18).

The Washington Post’s repeated distortion of the facts of domestic violence accords with the definition of propaganda: “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” (19)

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence calls on the Washington Post, in a timely manner, to run an editorial acknowledging its biased coverage of the domestic abuse issue, and to publish articles that focus on the plight of male victims of domestic violence.

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