UN Women’s Denial of Female-Perpetrated Abuse is a Threat to Women
Dear ADVIP colleague,
Today’s press release calls out UN Women for not addressing the problem of female-initiated abuse.
Sincerely,
Ed
Edward E. Bartlett, PhD
President
DAVIA: Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance
Internet: http://endtodv.org/davia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DomesticViolenceLegislativeProject/
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PRESS RELEASE
Rebecca Hain: +1-513-479-3335
Email: info@endtodv.org
UN Women’s Denial of Female-Perpetrated Abuse is a Threat to Women
WASHINGTON / December 19, 2022 – During its recent 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, UN Women produced a fact sheet on “Types of Violence Against Women and Girls” (1). The UN Women document systematically ignores the widespread problem of female-perpetrated abuse.
Female-perpetrated abuse represents a significant threat to women in two ways:
Mutual Abuse in Heterosexual Relationships: A report from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe documents the dangers of mutual abuse in heterosexual relationships (2). Noting that approximately half of all heterosexual domestic abuse is reciprocal, the report explains,
“Research has found that women’s use of domestic violence increased the frequency and severity of men’s abuse, and mutual aggression increased the likelihood of injury for both men and women.” (emphasis added)
The report concludes, “Therefore, it is imperative that governments take note of what surveys with representative community samples tell us about male and female victimisation and perpetration rates.”
Abuse in Lesbian Relationships: In 2009, Amber Heard was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence against her then-girlfriend, Tasya Van Ree (3). More recently, New York police officer Yvonne Wu shot and killed her former female lover, Jamie Liang (4).
These incidents confirm the fact that persons in same-sex relationships are at particularly high risk of abuse (5). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that same-sex female couples have substantially higher lifetime victimization rates than same-sex male couples for domestic violence, rape, and/or stalking (6):
• Lesbian: 44%
• Gay: 26%
In Australia, a national survey of over 5,400 LGBTIQ persons similarly found that 41% of female respondents, compared to 28% of male respondents, reported having been in a relationship in which the partner was abusive (7).
By denying the reality of female-perpetrated abuse, either in the context of heterosexual reciprocal abuse or same-sex female relationships, UN Women is placing women at far greater risk of experiencing injury and possible death. The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance calls on UN Women to base its programs on science, not gender ideology.
The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 70 member organizations from 24 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. http://endtodv.org/davia/
Citations:
1. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/faqs/types-of-violence
2. http://euromind.global/en/nicola-graham-kevan/
3. https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities/amber-heard-arrested-on-suspicion-of-domestic-violence-in-2009-case-against-former-girlfriend-a92882
4. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2022/attorney-general-james-announces-indictment-and-arraignment-nypd-officer-murder
5. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvsogi1720.pdf
6. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/cdc_nisvs_victimization_final-a.pdf
7. https://apo.org.au/node/4050
Posted: http://endtodv.org/un-womens-denial-of-female-perpetrated-abuse-is-a-threat-to-women/
Dec 20, 2022 @ 03:47:24
Thanks for the information, Ed. About ten years ago, with my colleague Esteban Esquivel-Santovena of Mexico, I conducted a comprehensive review of the social science literature on domestic violence around the world. I had expected to find victimization rates to be much higher against women, certainly in “Third World” countries. We did find that, unlike in the United States, rates of physical and psychological abuse were indeed skewed in the direction of female victims and male perpetrators. This was the case, for example, in Nigeria, Iran, Korea, and several countries in the Middle East. However, we found that in at least half of the countries we examined, including in most of the southern part of Africa, in the Caribbean, in China, and several Asian and South American countries, as well as most of Europe, rates were act4ually comparable across the sexes. Of course, we also found that injury rates, including fatality numbers, were much higher for female victims, as they are in the U.S. Additionally, Estaban conducted a statistical analysis that, to our surprise, found a LACK of correlation between rates of violence against women and the United Nations Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). That is, rates of DV are NOT associated with patriarchal structures. In all the world, DV is primarily a human and relational problem. Still, in most countries, DV laws are either nonexistent, or weakly enforced, which means that in cases of severe abuse the most vulnerable victims, which are mostly (but not always) women, are at even greater risk than in the U.S. By the way, Esteban and his research team will be conducting an update on our original research, and the published articles should appear at some point in early 2024. For anyone interested in reading the original review, go to http://www.domesticviolenceresearch.org and look for the DV Worldwide section in the Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project.