Dr Edward Bartlett, an expert in the field of public health, is the founder of the Coalition to End Domestic Violence. He is a former academic, consultant, and government regulator. Website: www. endtodv.org

According to the Coalition, each year, 4.2 million males, compared to 3.5 million females, experience domestic violence according to the Centers for Disease Control (1). But according to a recent report, Thirty Years of Domestic Violence Half-Truths, Falsehoods, and Lies, many domestic violence groups continue to promote a false narrative of male-as-perpetrator and female-as-victim (2). These falsehoods unfairly stereotype men, deprive abusive women from getting help, and undermine the effectiveness of abuse-reduction programs:

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence released the following:*

1. Each year, 17.3 million men and 12.7 million women are victims of psychological coercive control tactics, according to the CDC (3). But last year Connecticut Senator Mae Flexner ignored the research and rallied supporters to support a new law to define coercive control as a form of domestic violence. Flexner promoted her bill using the one-sided and misleading claim: “The changes in this bill will be a lifeline to the more than a third of all Connecticut women who will experience some form of intimate partner violence or stalking in their lifetime.” (4)

2. According to the CDC, American Indian men and women experience nearly identical lifetime rates of partner abuse: 81.6% and 84.3%, respectively (5). The federal Violence Against Women Act includes a section on “Safety for Indian Women.” But inexplicably, nothing about “Safety for Indian Men.”

3. Over the past year and a half, Americans have heard dire warnings that COVID stay-at-home policies were causing a dramatic “spike” and “surge” in domestic violence. But according to numerous independent analyses, these claims have no scientific basis. There has been no national increase in partner abuse as a result of COVID lockdown policies, either in the United States or abroad (6).

4. On October 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The senators sidestepped the problem of female-perpetrated violence. Horrifically, the following week a female NYPD officer discovered her former girlfriend cavorting with another woman. Officer Yvonne Wu opened fire, shooting her ex-lover in the chest and killing the other woman, Jamie Li (7).

5. A domestic violence curriculum known as Athletes as Leaders and Coaching Boys Into Men is being taught to high school athletes around the country. The program features an “Oppression Chart” that makes the unscientific claim that “cisgender” men are “given more power, access, and advantages,” while women are subjected to “oppression.” (8)

6. The Culture of Dishonesty was also evident when it was revealed that the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence had compensated former director Tiffany Carr $7.5 million over a three-year period, and failed to provide state officials with accurate financial reports. As a result, the Florida Coalition agreed to repay the State of Florida more than $5 million and was shut down in disgrace (9).

Fortunately, a growing number of domestic violence groups are beginning to acknowledge the existence of female abusers and male victims. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, for example, offers a three-page fact sheet on Male Victims of Domestic Violence (10).

Researcher Murray Straus has noted, “the past 25 years has seen a systematic denial of evidence about perpetration of PV [partner violence] by women. This denial is troublesome for social scientists because it threatens the integrity of science, and for practitioners because it threatens the effectiveness of prevention and treatment efforts.” (11)

See Press Release*

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