PRESS RELEASE
Contact: G. Lawrence DeMarco, LLM
Email: ldemarco@menandboys.net
Phone: +1-215-901-1930
Beyond the Campaign Rhetoric: ICMB Urges Candidates to Address Five Issues Facing Men
October 23, 2024 – As the 2024 November elections approach, male voters have emerged as a crucial but historically overlooked demographic. (1) Despite initial predictions that the 2024 elections would center on women’s issues, recent articles reveal that both political parties have become focused on winning the support of the male electorate. (2)(3)
Richard Reeves of the American Institute for Boys and Men argues that candidates need to move past rhetoric and begin to offer substantive solutions to the problems of greatest concern to men. (4) The International Council for Men and Boys has identified five key areas where targeted action is urgently needed:
- Men’s Health
Men face a five-year gender life expectancy gap, and much higher rates of workplace fatalities and suicide. (5) While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now has eight offices focused on women’s health, (6) there are no equivalent offices to address the health challenges that men face. - Shared Parenting and Child Support
Family court systems often marginalize fathers by limiting parenting time (7) and imposing unreasonable child support obligations. (8) Reform is needed to ensure that child support fairly reflects shared parenting responsibilities and promotes equality for both parents. (9) - Domestic Violence The Centers for Disease Control reports that each year, over half of domestic violence victims are men. (10) But males comprise only 9% of recipients of services funded by the Violence Against Women Act. (11) The Department of Justice should conduct audits to assure all victims of abuse are equally served by VAWA funds.
- False Allegations
False allegations of abuse disproportionately affect men. (12) Expanding civil and criminal protections, such as New York’s anti-Karen law (13) and Alabama’s False Reporting Law (14), would offer men a recourse against malicious claims and restore fairness in legal proceedings. - Fatherhood
Father deprivation is a major cause of the boy crisis. (15) States like Washington are addressing this issue by proposing commissions on boys and men. (16) At least 60 commissions for women and girls currently exist in the United States (17); similar commissions should be established for men and boys. (18)
ICMB urges lawmakers to offer male voters more than just rhetoric, and to offer solutions to address these problems.
The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen also will benefit women. https://www.menandboys.net/
Links:
(3) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/trump-stop-frisk-black-male-voters-rcna157084
(5) https://www.menandboys.net/health/
(6) https://www.womenshealth.gov
(9) https://time.com/6317692/u-s-economy-two-parent-families/
(10) https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6308a1.htm?s_cid=ss6308a1_e#Table6
(11) https://www.vawamei.org/report/2022-biennial-report-to-congress/
(12) https://endtodv.org/coalitions/davia/false-allegations/
(13) https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S8492