SILENT SHAME

MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

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WHAT IS ABUSE?

Abuse is a control issue.

Domestic abuse is the misuse of power and control by one adult over another adult person within the context of a close personal relationship.

Abuse can be physical, emotional, psychological, sexual or financial.

It is a people problem, not a gender problem

ABUSERS BELIEVE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO

Manipulate Humiliate Control

This belief is not only held by some men but also by some women.

MEN ARE VICTIMS TOO Not only women are victims of Domestic Abuse. Men can

be too, and frequently are.

At the hands of their female partner or, in the case of same-sex relationships, their male partner

The following articles hopefully will enlighten and provide awareness.

Statistics in England and Wales Refuges & Support available Funding Case Studies Conclusion

Statistics in England & Wales

One in five (20%) men have experienced abuse since the age of 16, this equates to 3.2 million.

Two in five (40%) men are victims of domestic abuse. One in six (17.1%) have experience abuse by their

partner since the age of 16 and equates to 2.7million. Two men every three weeks are murdered by their

partner. Male victims of abuse are likely to be aged between

20-34 than 35-59

Ref; The Mankind Initiative Domestic Abuse Statistics.

Refuges & Support

• There are only a few organisations in England and Wales, none in Scotland or Northern Ireland which provide refuge space for men.

• Services for male victims are 35 years behind than those for women.

• Whilst 40% of men have suffered abuse in their lifetime, only 5.9% of women are prosecuted .

• Recorded crime statistics show that men constitute 15% of victims.

Housing Options

Male victims of domestic violence can access legal advice and protection, advocacy support, and housing assistance in the same ways as female victims. Homeless Department The Council Domestic Violence Team. Victims Support Men’s Advice Help Line The Dyn Project Coalition on Men & Boys Next Steps Housing Association

Male victims of domestic and sexual violence fund 2011 to 2013

In December 2011 the Home Office launched a fund to support male victims of domestic and sexual violence.

Organisations and supporting services were successful in this fund and will receive up to £10,000 over the next 2 years to support services for male victims: 

Welsh Assembly GovernmentOn the 25th of March 2010 The Welsh Assembly Government launched Wales’s first integrated strategy to tackle all forms of violence against women (VAW).

In a Ministerial Statement, Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant AM identified three key messages to arise from the consultation; one of which was ‘the need to provide more services for male victims of domestic abuse’.  

There was also an awareness that several of Local Women’s Aid groups had been coming under pressure from local commissioners and strategic partnerships to open their doors to men, or to provide mixed-service services.

Ref; Carl Sargeant AM, Ministerial Statement, 5 January 2010.

The ManKind Initiative

This is a charity which has stated its objectives are to campaign for;

More recognition,

Services and support for male victims of domestic abuse

Both at a National and Local level.

It found that a major part of the reason for the lack of refuge/housing has been because of gender biased funding policies by the UK Government.

Case Studies I was awakened by her screaming as she came through the

bedroom door swinging a baseball bat. She brought it down across my legs.

She used to regularly scream at me and hit me, but when I needed stitches in my head after she had attacked me with a knife while drunk, I had to leave.

My ex-wife threatened me a few times with a knife,on one occasion she told me if I went to sleep I would be stabbed

Case Studies cont.

She scalded me with a steam iron, poured boiling water over my genitals, stubbed cigarettes on my chest, and smashed a gin bottle in my mouth.

Ian was hit so hard with a claw hammer it broke his shoulder on the third blow.

“Admitting the truth was the hardest thing I've done. I was a shell of the man I was before, physically, emotionally and financially. The day the police came I was going to take an overdose. I could take no more”.

Statistics show there maybe a trend toward less violence against women, and more violence against men, or both.

While 76.5% of people reporting physical violence by a partner, only 37.5% of these were men.

The data shows that while women are more likely to be beaten up, threaten with a gun, choked, pushed, grabbed or shoved. Men however are more likely to be threaten with a knife, hit with an object, kicked, bitten or have something thrown at them.

Conclusion

The figures in these latest statistics show there is a clear mismatch between the proportions of men and women who are victims of severe force within a relationship and the help available to them. I believe the Government can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to this. The figures are a wake-up call, especially when they are the Government’s own figures.

It seems to me that this has been seen by the Government, local authorities and the police as only a problem that affects female victims, when in truth, it isn’t, it is a social and family problem where both men and women can be victims.

I wonder is this a fault in how we raise our boys? Is it nature or nurture that men are or have to be the stronger sex? I don’t know, but what I do know is that whatever the reason nobody deserves to be hurt, and abuse, regardless of gender.

By Alexis Roberts BA (hons) Film and Photography

ARD503 Design for Society

References

Ref; Carl Sergeant AM, Ministerial Statement, 5 January 2010.

Ref; The Mankind Initiative: Domestic Abuse Statistics

Images; my own and some sourced from Google images