Global #MenToo Campaign Addresses Plight of Male Victims of Domestic Violence

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Stewart: 513-479-3335

Global #MenToo Campaign Addresses Plight of Male Victims of Domestic Violence

WASHINGTON / June 14, 2022 – A global alliance of organizations from six countries today is launching an campaign designed to draw attention to the plight of male victims of domestic violence. The six countries are Australia, India, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay.

The global #MenToo campaign is inspired by the recent trial of Johnny Depp, which revealed multiple instances of physical and psychological abuse committed by Amber Heard. The trial also exposed Heard’s taunt of Depp: ‘Tell them, ‘I, Johnny Depp, I’m a victim of domestic abuse’ and see how many people believe or side with you.” (1)

Following announcement of the verdict on June 1 in favor of Depp, the #MenToo hashtag began to trend on Twitter (2). For example, Oluwatomisin Amokeoja tweeted, “Like women, #MenToo go through a lot. Everybody, regardless of gender, suffer abuse. But, we live in a world where men are supposed to be supermen without emotions. It all reeks of double standard.” (3)

A Google search on “#MenToo” and “domestic violence” turns up over one million results.

Hundreds of studies conducted around the world reveal women are equally likely as men to engage in domestic violence. A summary of 343 investigations by Dr. Martin Feibert revealed that “women are as physically aggressive as men (or more) in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners.” (4)

The exclusion of male victims from domestic violence programs stems from an ideological belief that domestic violence is a tactic utilized by men to uphold patriarchal “power and control.” This notion is contradicted by the fact that lesbian women in homosexual relationships engage in far higher rates of partner abuse than heterosexual men or women (5).

The #MenToo campaign is working to assure that:

Male victims are fully recognized by domestic violence legislation.
Domestic violence education and training programs are factually accurate regarding the extent of male victimization.
Domestic violence providers provide necessary outreach and services for male victims.

Persons are urged to use the #MenToo hashtag for social media messages. More information on the global #MenToo campaign is available online (6).

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