Can Feminists be Trusted to Tell the Truth about Domestic Violence?

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

Can Feminists be Trusted to Tell the Truth about Domestic Violence?

September 14, 2023 – Vowing she “wanted him to die,” Donna Stewart drove her car at full speed with ex-partner Hugh Lowther inside, deliberately crashing into a building. Lowther and two others suffered multiple broken bones and permanent disfigurement. Last month, Stewart pleaded guilty to driving at high speed and is now serving time in jail (1).

Troubled by incidents such as this, lawmakers around the world are focusing more on the problem of domestic violence. The debate is often driven by feminists who, many believe, are motivated more by gender ideology than by science (2).

Hundreds of research studies have been conducted around the world about the nature and causes of domestic violence:

Male Victims: Summarizing 343 scholarly investigations conducted in 40 countries, professor Martin Fiebert explains, “women are as physically aggressive as men (or more) in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners.” (3)
Same-Sex Couples: A review of research by Luca Rollè of the University of Torino reveals the lifetime prevalence intimate partner violence is 43.8% among lesbian women, compared to only 26% in homosexual men (4).
Two-Way Violence: A recent analysis by Andreia Machado of Lusófona University in Portugal concludes, “bidirectional violence is the most common pattern of [domestic] violence.” (5) Another study found that injury is far more likely when the violence is mutual (28%), compared to unidirectional (12%). (6)

Multiple Causes: Domestic violence is caused by a variety of factors such as alcohol abuse (7), mental health problems (8), and marital break-down (9).

But statements on feminist domestic violence websites veer dramatically from the science. The “Facts and Figures” page of UN Women (10), for example:

Ignores the existence of male victims of abuse,
Categorically denies the problem of abuse in lesbian relationships,
Obfuscates the two-way nature of many incidents, and
Refuses to disclose the multiple causes of intimate partner violence.

It is difficult to understand why UN Women does not care about lesbian women caught in abusive relationships with nowhere to turn; hides the fact that bidirectional abuse can often escalate to cause life-threatening injuries; and insists that domestic violence offenders be sent to ineffective treatment programs that are based on the “power and control” model (11).

UN Women is not merely dishonest in its portrayal of domestic violence. The greater problem is the willingness of UN Women to sacrifice the safety and well-being of domestic violence victims to the dictates of gender ideology.

Ambassadors, lawmakers, and domestic violence victims are urged to speak out. Email UN Women at ines.esteban.gonzalez@unwomen.org

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 108 member organizations from 34 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 gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/coalitions/davia/

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