Every Totalitarian Movement Begins with a Monstrous Lie: Special Rapporteur’s Flawed Report on Domestic Violence

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Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

Every Totalitarian Movement Begins with a Monstrous Lie: Special Rapporteur’s Flawed Report on Domestic Violence

July 7, 2023 – Every honest discussion of the domestic violence issue must begin with an acknowledgement that women are equally likely as men to be perpetrators of partner abuse (1). Researcher Martin Fiebert summarized his review of 343 scholarly investigations in over 40 countries this way: “women are as physically aggressive as men (or more) in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners.” (2)

For example, Penelope Jackson of England killed her husband, David, stabbing him three times with a kitchen knife. She “seemed quite happy” that she had killed her husband, a senior police officer later remarked. Jackson was convicted of murder and handed a 18-year sentence (3). Last week, a judge dismissed Jackson’s bid to bring an appeal (4).

But Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem’s report, “Custody, Violence Against Women and Violence against Children,” systematically ignores the existence of female-perpetrated abuse (5). This bias serves to stereotype and marginalize men as abusers, leading to social service and criminal justice policies that abridge due process and violate the human rights of men (6).

Hannah Arendt, acclaimed German-born political philosopher, devoted much of her life to probing the roots of totalitarianism. Reflecting on the “consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth,” Arendt concludes,

“The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements.” (7)

Consistent with Arendt’s thesis, a recent report warns that the Special Rapporteur’s A/HRC/53/36 document is so filled with “misleading statements and blatant misinformation” that “democracy itself is in danger of being overtaken by totalitarian ideologies and regimes.” (8)

The human rights consequences of totalitarian rule have been well documented. It was the horrors of World War II that led the U.N. General Assembly to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which prohibits any infringement of rights on the basis of sex (9):

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

During 2023, the Human Rights Council is celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Human Rights Council must work to thwart totalitarian movements around the world, assure the equal rights of men and women, and categorically reject the unscientific claims of “Custody, Violence Against Women and Violence against Children.”

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 98 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 family-affirming, science-based, and sex-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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