The United Nations has cast aside men who suffer from domestic violence. This is the reality behind the domestic violence campaign known as “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.”
It is a well-documented fact that domestic violence victimizes men and women in approximately equal numbers across the globe. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, confirms that each year 4.2 million men and 3.5 million women are victims of domestic violence.
For psychological abuse, males represent a clear majority of victims of nagging and controlling behaviors. The CDC reports that each year, 17.3 million men and 12.7 million women are victims of coercive control behaviors.
Given that CDC’s word is treated as gospel when it comes to COVID, you’d think a study like this would make waves in the news. The U.N. knows all of this because the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance sent the U.N. a letter in October highlighting these facts. But narratives are not founded on the truth; they are created to serve a broader social and political purpose.
The U.N. campaign, launched on Nov. 25, boasts the colorful if confusing title, “Orange the World: End violence against women now!” So the UN’s 16 Days of Activism only highlights female victims of domestic violence. Male victims apparently don’t make the cut.
But the U.N. is taking its “16 Days” campaign beyond the bounds of mere exclusion and bias. Now, the U.N. is using the domestic violence issue as the centerpiece of a full-fledged propaganda campaign.
A recent article planted in US News and World Report states that a “‘shadow pandemic’ of violence against women is affecting their participation in public life, and physical and mental health, a study finds.” The US News article draws on a U.N. report, “Violence Against Women During COVID-19,” which surveyed women in 13 countries. The study concluded that 1 in 2 women report that they, or a woman they know, have experienced violence since the COVID-19 pandemic, and that 7 and 10 women believe domestic violence has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Men were excluded from participating in the survey.
A review of the survey questionnaire reveals numerous statements that are confusing, leading, or openly biased.
For example, the survey instrument uses broad questions such as, “Please answer based on your knowledge of the experiences of you and the people in the area where you live,” and “How, if at all, do you think physical harm, abuse, or harassment in the area where you live has changed since COVID-19?”
More problematic are prejudicial questions such as, “[Male name] works in a repair shop, but lately the business has been bad, and they are worried about money. Sometimes when [Male name] gets stressed, he takes out his anger by yelling at [Female name], and sometimes he hits her. [Female name] feels hurt and wants him to stop but does not know what to do.”
The survey did not pose similar questions designed to elicit the occurrence of female-on-male abuse.
This is not the first time the U.N. has indulged in a propaganda-like campaign that plays on men’s sense of chivalry and women’s fears. In 2020, the U.N. issued a series of press releases and reports on COVID, featuring fear-producing terms such as “alarming upsurge,” “shadow pandemic of violence,” “horrifying global surge,” and more.
In contrast to the alarmist U.N. claims, an impartial analysis of hotline calls, police reports, and FBI data reveal there was no increase in domestic violence during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Indeed, some cities saw a decrease in abuse incidents.
Commentator Corrine Barraclough has revealed, “The myth that domestic violence is surging in lockdown will become one of the biggest lies the gendered narrative leans on for additional funding.”
After all of this deception, Congress must suspend its $8.5 million annual payment to U.N. Women until the group ceases its dissemination of domestic violence misinformation and lies.
Edward E. Bartlett is the president of the Coalition to End Domestic Violence.
