Lone Fathers/Shared Parenting Council deny women protection from domestic violence

Website of the Lone Fathers Association of Australia and
The Office of the Status of Men and Their Families

Policy Submissions

Resolution Regarding the UN Study on Violence Against Women ("RADAR") (Domestic violence)

Recommends that the ideologically anti-male UN report on “Violence against women" not be implemented by the UN.

1. Whereas, the World Health Organization has reported that twice as many men die from violence ­related causes as women, 1

2. Whereas, men are more than three ­times more likely than women to die from injuries sustained from armed conflict, 1

3. Whereas, 3.5 times as many men commit suicide worldwide as women, 1

4. Whereas, in almost every country around the world, men have shorter life expectancies than women, reaching a 13­ year disparity in the Russian Federation, 2

5. Whereas, a compilation of 195 scientific studies of partner violence concludes, "women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with spouses or male­partners, 3

6. Whereas, according to a Statistics Canada report, 7% of women and 6% of men report violence by a current or previous partner in the previous five years. 4

7. Whereas, according to a recent international study of severe violence among dating couples, 55% was mutual violence, 16% was male ­only, and 29% of violence was female­ only. 5

8. Whereas, the president of the American Psychological Association has recently noted that "Several studies of domestic violence have suggested that males and females in relationships have an equal likelihood of acting out physical aggression, 6

9. Whereas, reports from Africa reveal that domestic violence against men is widespread, but men are reluctant to report the abuses,7,8

And

10. Whereas, the United Nations recently released the Secretary­ General's Study on Violence Against Women,

11. Whereas, the report ignores the fact that half of all partner violence is mutual, and glosses over the problem of male victimization altogether, 9

12. Whereas, the report uses misandrous and inflammatory language such as "patriarchal" in falsely stereotyping men,

13. Whereas, leading family violence researchers around the world have criticized the report's portrayal of domestic violence as being "biased" and ensuring "that both women and men will continue to be victimised in this way,"10

And

14. Whereas, programs similar to those proposed by the Secretary­General's report have caused undesirable outcomes for women, 11

15. Whereas, the report fails to require persons who allege domestic violence to provide objective evidence of abuse, and false allegations are known to result in harm to children,12

16. Whereas, the report also calls for stronger law enforcement and prosecution efforts, which have been shown to result in widespread violations of due process protections, 13

14. Whereas, the result of such domestic violence programs has been to weaken families, bias divorce proceedings, and deprive children of contact from their fathers.14
15.

Therefore, the undersigned organizations urgently call on the Third Committee to:

1. Simply "Note" (but not "Welcome") the recent Secretary­General's report.

2. Discourage implementation of the recommendations of the Study on Violence Against Women until its effects on families and children are analyzed and understood.

3. Request incoming UN Secretary­General Ban Ki­moon to undertake a counterpart Study on Violence against Men.

Mark Rosenthal
RADAR: Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting

Australia:
Tony Miller Dads in Distress
Barry Williams Lone Fathers' Association
Micheal Woods Men's Health Information & Resource Centre
Sue Price Men's Rights Agency
John Flanagan Non­Custodial Parents Party
Edward Dabrowski Shared Parenting Council of Australia