RADAR ALERT:
Time to Blow the Whistle on the UN Violence Report
Two weeks ago the United Nations issued its one-sided Study on Violence Against Women:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/violenceagainstwomenstudydoc.pdf.
If you haven't reviewed the report yet, think of it this way:
What the Violence Against Women Act has done to families in the United States, this report may do to families throughout the entire world.
The report's portrayal of domestic violence is so flawed that leading family violence researchers around the world are speaking out against the deliberate bias:
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"Research on intimate partner violence consistently finds that men and women use similar types of aggression. By ignoring the mutual nature of much partner violence, the UN ensures that both women and men will continue to be victimised in this way." — Nicola Graham-Kevan, PhD, University of Central Lancashire, England
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"The UN report's discussion on domestic violence is biased because it deliberately ignores half the problem – female perpetrators. Ending violence against women by male partners is not going to be achieved until women also desist." — Murray A. Straus, PhD, Co-Director, Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, United States
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"Much domestic violence research conducted in North America has been so biased that it might be called 'junk science.' It has used selective data and interpreted results in a way that depicts all males as real or potential perpetrators, while downplaying female violence." — Donald Dutton, PhD, University of British Columbia, Canada
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"Studies consistently show that throughout the Western world, men and women initiate physical violence at about equal rates, and frequently partner violence is reciprocal. Portraying inter-partner violence as though it only involves male perpetrators and female victims does both men and women a disservice." — Felicity Goodyear-Smith, MB ChB, University of Auckland, New Zealand
For years, feminists at the UN have pushed through their resolutions, conferences, and programs. With no one to tell the other side of the story, these persons have operated virtually unchecked.
All this is going to change on Monday, October 23, 2006.
RADAR has assembled an international coalition to protest this deliberately misleading report. RADAR has also put together key information on its website –
http://www.mediaradar.org
– under the heading, "UN Report on Violence Against Women."
This is what we are asking you to do:
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Send Ambassador John Bolton a short message. A boilerplate letter is shown
below.
Feel free to modify the first two paragraphs, but remember to always be polite and respectful.
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Send your message by e-mail:
usa@un.int, or fax: 1-212-415-4443
Please do this today. The UN's "Third Committee" will be taking action on this report, possibly this coming week. Your voice is important. But time is of the essence.
Dear Ambassador Bolton:
Recently the UN Secretariat released the Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Women. Although the report is well-intentioned, leading experts in family violence say the report's portrayal of domestic abuse is biased and one-sided. Dr. Nicola Graham-Kevan of the University of Central Lancashire says about this report,
"By ignoring the mutual nature of much partner violence, the UN ensures that both women and men will continue to be victimised in this way."
Worse, many of the report's recommendations, if implemented, will serve to violate the civil rights of innocent citizens, undermine families, and separate children from their fathers.
These concerns are documented in a number of reports that are available at http://www.mediaradar.org.
I am respectfully requesting that when this report comes up for consideration by the Third Committee, that you strongly urge the committee to:
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Simply "Note" (but not "Welcome") the recent Secretary-General's report.
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Discourage implementation of the recommendations of the Study on Violence Against Women until its long-term effects on families and children are analyzed and understood.
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Request incoming Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to undertake a counterpart Study on Violence against Men.
Sincerely,
[your name and address]
Date of RADAR Release: October 21, 2006
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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://mediaradar.org
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