DAVIA Condemns UN Women for Discounting the Lives of Men

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

DAVIA Condemns UN Women for Discounting the Lives of Men

December 6, 2023 – UN Women has issued a statement that suggests the lives of men are less important than the lives of women. In its December 1 Statement on the Situation in Israel and Gaza, UN Women wrote, “For the sake of everyone in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and especially women and children….” [emphasis added] (1)

The UN Women website emphasizes that “gender equality” is a core part of its mission (2). The World Health Organization reports that globally, twice as many males as females are killed by injuries and violence each year (3). But “gender equality” apparently does not pertain to remedying the widespread violence-related disparities that affect men.

One such victim was Stefan Kolev, brutally murdered by his wife Ivanka two weeks ago. Police officers say the man was stabbed and shot multiple times, and his body left to decompose in the family home. Ivanka is now being held on a million-dollar bond (4).

Despite the regular occurrence of such incidents, the UN Women’s “Facts and Figures” falls entirely silent on the problem of female-perpetrated domestic violence (5). Researchers say male and female-perpetrated domestic violence occur at similar levels (6). The recent documentary, MEN TOO: Male Victims of Domestic Violence, features the poignant accounts of these men (7).

The UN Women statement was issued just days before the observance of Human Rights Day on December 10, which celebrates the global commitment to equal rights for all (8). The UN Women’s statement serves to vitiate the human rights of male victims of violence by implying that men are less deserving of assistance, and their lives are less important.

Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirms that the right to life is the “supreme right from which no derogation is permitted” (9). The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance strongly condemns UN Women’s suggestion that male lives count for less. UN Women needs to remove its misguided and misandrous statement.

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 gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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