Why is the UN ‘16 Days of Activism’ Campaign Ignoring the Majority of Victims of Domestic Violence?

PRESS RELEASE

Rebecca Hain: +1-513-479-3335

Why is the UN ‘16 Days of Activism’ Campaign Ignoring the Majority of Victims of Domestic Violence?

WASHINGTON / November 28, 2022 – The United Nations has launched a campaign titled, “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.” The campaign focuses solely on the concerns of women (1), inexplicably ignoring the global epidemic of domestic violence against men.

Evidence from community surveys reveals the majority of victims of domestic violence are males:

An extensive review of domestic violence studies found that among victims, “Past year rates are somewhat higher among men.” (2)
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control reports that male victims of domestic violence outnumber female victims: 4.2 million males, compared to 3.5 million females each year (3).
A report from Australia reveals that 23% adolescent girls had perpetrated violence in the home, compared to only 14% of adolescent males (4).

Recent media accounts echo these research findings:

In Spain, last week a woman was convicted for the attempted murder of her boyfriend for his refusal to marry her. The judge handed the woman a six-year prison sentence (5).
In Australia, newspapers reported on a man who was fatally stabbed by his wife as he unsuccessfully pleaded for her to “stop!” (6)
In the United States, a lesbian woman pled guilty to repeatedly punching a 10 year-old boy, dislocating his neck bones and causing his death. (7).

In Canada, criminology professor Alexandra Lysova recently was recognized for her research on male victims of domestic violence. In accepting the award, Lysova related, “In my work I started to look at violence against women and children, but I heard men’s voices as well. I’d seen this in the statistics, that there are men who experience abuse, and I was surprised to see how much this topic was avoided.” (8)

The 72 member organizations of the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance (9) call on governments around the world to assure that male victims of violence and abuse are able to obtain services and legal assistance, in order to stop the violence and hold abusers accountable.

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