DAVIA Highlights Three Years of Progress to Stop DV Disinformation

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Henry Herrera

Telephone: +1-301-801-0608

DAVIA Highlights Three Years of Progress to Stop DV Disinformation

September 30, 2024 – This week the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance is marking three years of efforts to counter the disinformation efforts that portray domestic violence solely as a problem of men abusing their wives and girlfriends (1). Indeed, hundreds of research studies confirm that men and women are equally likely to engage in domestic violence (2).

In the Fall of 2021, 19 organizations from Australia, Canada, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, and the United States came together to participate in the first-ever campaign to counter the myth that partner violence is only about men abusing women. On October 4, the Big Lie campaign issued its first press release (3). The month-long campaign featured press releases, radio interviews, and editorials.

Buoyed by its success, the group decided to form a new organization called “DAVIA” – Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance. The goal was to promote policies and laws that are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. The groups also came to realize that domestic violence and abuse are intertwined with the issues of false allegations, parental alienation, shared parenting, and fatherhood, so DAVIA expanded its mission to address these areas, as well.

DAVIA has supported members’ efforts in the areas of parental alienation (4) and false allegations (5). DAVIA also has sponsored observances for the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Men, held at the end of November (6).

The DAVIA membership has grown steadily. Following is the number of members as of the end of each year:

2021: 19 organizations
2022: 70 organizations
2023: 114 organizations

Supported by its weekly press releases (7), DAVIA’s campaign to stop domestic abuse disinformation is seeing a measure of success. In 2023, DAVIA participated as a member of an international coalition that successfully blocked a flawed report on parental alienation by Reem Alsalem of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (8).

More recently, the Swedish magazine Fokus published an article on “Women Who Hit Men” that highlighted a recent study showing similar levels of partner victimization among men and women. The article reveals how the “men’s violence against women” narrative “causes society’s aid agencies to get a wrong picture of what violence in close relationships looks like.” (9).

DAVIA urges organizations, including the United Nations (10), to assure that portrayals of domestic violence are accurate, honest, and complete.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 159 member organizations from 37 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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