Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Domestic Violence against men

Jennifer Delgado
University of Texas at El Paso

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Abstract
Domestic violence is a huge issue, but most of the times, people think that domestic violence
only affects women and children. They are used to witness more men being the actual abusers.
This happens most of the times because men are physically stronger than women. When it comes
to men, several people dont see this as an issue. Even the victims of this abuse dont admit they
are being abused or they are ashamed of telling the others, and dont report these abuses against
them. Domestic violence against men does exist, people need to be aware of it. In this literature
review, it will address these research questions, why do men dont react and report these types of
abuses. How are the victims affected by domestic violence? .Several people believe this is not an
issue and they have different reactions to it. The different types of domestic violence and their
definitions.

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Domestic violence against men: A Review of Literature

Domestic violence against men is an issue, but many people dont believe this is a
problem. Moreover this happens because in previous times women were not treated equally as
men, Women were inferior to men, women were not able to work and they were only supposed
to stay at home and race the children , now in days men and women work in equal jobs and there
are less differences among them. This is one of the reasons why now there domestic violence
against men. People are more used to see domestic violence against women and children than
against men. This is due because men are more physically stronger than women. People are used
to see men being the actual abuser not them being abused. Men dont report this types of abuses
and they dont react to it. The victims are affected in many ways, many people believe this is not
an issued and they have different reactions to it. There are different types of violences and they
have different definitions. Domestic against men is a huge issue and people need to be aware of
it. Men should get informed about their rights and actually putting an end to this type of abuse.
These three questions:
1. What are different types of domestic violence men are facing?
2. Why do men dont report domestic violence?
3. Why domestic violence now affects men too ?
These questions will explain the purpose of this literature review by providing background of the
different types of domestic violence men are facing, the reasons why men dont report they are
being abused. And how during the time now domestic violence not only affects women and
children but also men.

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

There are different types of domestic violence, physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional
abuse, and sexual abuse, First physical abuse is a form of domestic violence that consist of the
partner to be aggressive and damaging the his or her partner with hitting , throwing things at her
o him not only that . Physical abuse that is perpetrated by spouses or intimate partners in order to
gain power and control over the victim is described in the section on domestic violence ( NCPEA,
2013). The forms of domestic violence men experience, first forms of physical domestic abused
against men. This type of abused is physical contact and there are different forms. According to
Christopher F Barber, there is a total of seven physical domestic abuse men report and are the
most common. First men are assaulted once a month or more frequently, (Christopher, 2008).
And the percentage of male victims are seventy percentage. Another one is that men are
threatened with a weapon, and the percentage is of a fifty percentage. They receive severe
bruising and the percentage is of forty percentage, Teeth knocked out are physical abuse and can
cause not only physical injuries but also can affect the emotions of men (Christopher, 2008).
Most of the times it causes the men feel worthless and a degree of depression
They are kick in the genitals and this can cause severe injuries. According to Dr. Harry
Fisch( 2013) a hard blow to the testicles can hurt men fertility and/or sex drive. In one of the few
studies done on the issue, both hormone levels and semen quality were impaired in 6 of 9 men
who had sustained testicular injury. Only 1 of these men, however, was actually infertile, and the
percentage of victims are thirty percentage, assaulted more than ten times and the percentage of
victims are more than sixty six percent, burn or scalded , and stabled are the less common ,
Victims are about a thirteen and ten percentage.

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Source:

Statistics

Canada.

(2009)

General

Social

Survey.

Retrieved

from

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ .In this chart we can see that physical assault is higher in male than in
women, as we can see in the table, not only domestic violence happens to women but also to men
as well.
The forms of domestic violence against men that they had experienced are stabbing,
injuries in the genitals when a men is kicked in the genitals is not considered to be sexual assault
but when a women is kicked by a men in their genitals it is considered to be sexual assault.
Verbal abuse is another form of Domestic violence, Verbal abuse According to
loveisrespect.org includes non-physical behaviors such as threats, insults, constant monitoring or
checking in, excessive texting, humiliation, intimidation, isolation or stalking(loveisrespect.org
, (2013) . Is more difficult to notice because it doesnt live scars or burns as physical abuse does,
Verbal abuse is yelling, insulting or swearing to someone which not only affects mother and
children but also it can affect the father of the family. According to Kerby Anderson it is often
less visible simply because the abuse may always take place in private. The victim of verbal
abuse lives in a gradually more confusing realm. In public, the victim is with one person. While
in private, the abuser may become a completely different person ( Kerby, 2001).

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

The signs of verbal abuse are calling his or her partner by names, constantly humiliating
them in public or in private, controlling your facebook or other social media, stalking, blaming
their partner for their abusive comportation, constantly telling them they are cheating on them,
According to the webpage making them feel guilty or immature when they dont consent to
sexual activity. Threatening to expose your secrets such as your sexual orientation or
immigration status.(loveisrespect.org , 2013).
Verbal abuse against men consists in economic problems most of the times, women used
to tell men they are not worthy because they cannot sustain a job or pay the bills, women yell at
them and used inappropriate words. Emotional abuse is also difficult to perceive, although it
doesnt live any scar like physical abuse, it have a huge impact on victims self-esteem and
confident in themselves. Most of the times the partners who are the victims they dont think they
deserve better and they think there is no way out of the relationship and even think they cannot
live without their partners. Emotional abuse consist of different forms, first verbal that was
explained before, rejection which means to pretend to not notice someone presence another is,
telling them names, telling them they are not worthy or not capable of doing something, third one
is isolation limiting the partner to see his or her friends and family , or even stop contact with
them and money, controlling their money, stealing their money , not letting them buy things the
victims like.
The last one is being afraid , the victims is afraid of expressing his opinion and prefers
not say it to not make his partner get aggressive towards him. Emotional psychological cruelty
can be more harmful than physical abused and one sign of this abuse is when women are usually
humiliating men in public and in front of others, women are usually criticizing men and judging
them. This type of abuse can cause depression on men, and anxiety. After verbal abuse is sexual

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

abuse which affects the same way as other who had experience sexual abuse in a young or age or
even in adulthood.
Sexual abuse is forcing your partner to have sex, unwanted sexual activity, sexual abuse
can happen to anybody, not only women. Men and boys who had experience sexual abuse face
the same problems as women who had been abused. Men who had suffer of sexual abuse have
problems to trust others, they dont feel comfortable with someone getting closer to them, they
became aggressive sometimes, have anxiety problems, depression and at the more risk have
suicide thoughts. Many men who have been sexually assaulted feel alone, but researchers have
found that 1 in 6 men have been through abusive sexual experiences before even reaching
adulthood (Rainn, 2009).
Sexual abuse is forcing their partner to have sexual activities, Most of the researches
dont mention that sexual abuse involve power. According to Reynaert (2015) by contrast, it can
be argued that the abuse of power is more significant than the sexual motive, as it lies at the root
of the sexual abuse and expresses itself through the body and a misuse of sexuality. The power
difference makes the abuse possible (p. 190). Women does made this too, some examples are
treating him with a weapon forcing him or she will punish him. Threating him with taking away
his children or divorcing him. Woman also called they are not men because they dont want to
have sexual relationship, women dont think of this as sexual assault, but they are forcing men to
have sexual relationship even if men dont agree to. This is also considered to sexual abuse.
According to (Baumeister & Bushman 2009). A women forcing a men to have sexual

relationship, the traumatic consequences appeared to less than what females rapes victims suffer.
Articles dont explain much about sexual abuse against men, most of the articles explain more

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

about children and women not men or the articles talk about boys or young adults who had suffer
sexual abuse.
Men most of the times dont report domestic violence because they are ashamed of
telling other or men dont want to admit they are being abuse. According to the article of
Domestic violence against men in India : a perspective. Anant (2012) explains the word man is
gender-biased, denoting power, embedded with masculine behavior, appearance, and control of
emotion (it is generally believed that men have less emotions than women, although no scientific
evidence is available) . The article also explains that its a common belief that separated men and
female, can be a matter of shame for men because in their culture men are supposed to be
married and they live in a society were men are not supposed to be dominated by their wifes ,
they are the ones in control. . Anant (2012)
This issue not only happens in India, but also in almost all societies, Men are supposed to
be ones in charge, they feel oppressed by their spouses or families when they are not in control of
the economy of the family. For example , in the past most of the families the father is the one in
charge of the family the wife stays in homes , but when the second world war started , women
were working in the jobs of the men , while the men were in war and women didnt stayed at
homes. After the war had ended , men got back from the War , they got their jobs back , but
women didnt like the idea of going back home and stay and raise the children, This is why
women start working as equal workers as men, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis
of government data. The share of mothers who do not work outside the home rose to 29% in
2012, up from a modern-era low of 23% in 1999. (Dvera, Gretchen, & Wendy , 2014)

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Source: Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends. (2014). After Decades
of

Decline,

Rise

in

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/

Stay-at-Home

Mothers.

Retrieved

from

this chart explains how during time there is less

mother at homes.

According to Anant (2012) if a married man discloses his suffering to his friend or his
family, he fears loneliness and has fear of loss of patriarchy and divorce from his wife or
dominating behavior of his wife. It also has ill effects on his family and children and
responsibility toward them. Because of this, men start living in distress and cannot disclose their
feelings to anybody. Unavailability of a strong support system (counseling services, institutional
support, help line, family support, etc.) is another factor.
Another reason why men dont report domestic violence against men is because of the
police officers and how they respond to these reports. In the article of domestic violence against

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

men by Barber, there is an example of a table were there it explains the different responses to it.
One of the reactions of the police officers are laughing and ignoring men who report,
(Christopher, 2008). There is a thirty five percentage of males victims. Some are even
threatened with arrest and actually is the most common respond from the police officers which is
a forty seven percentage, (Christopher, 2008). Police officers must of times think that men are
trying to play games on them or just trying to be funny, so the police officers threatened with
arrests, When this happen men dont respond back because they are afraid that they would
actually get arrested. Some police officers pretended or reported that the violent female partner
had been arrested. These responses from police officers make it difficult for men to report what
they had experience, this is one of the reasons why men dont report.
The primary research , there were twenty responses to it, the questions that were ask were
, how much they were informed about domestic violence , most of the people were very
informed and some were not informed. If they believe domestic violence against men exists just
one person answer no and the other yes. How they will react of they see a men abusing a
women, most of the answers were call the police and stop the men. If women are as violent as
men, this was more even some people thought no and others thought that women are as violent
as men. What is the most typical type of abuse men suffers, the most typical is assaulted once a
month and most of the answers were kicked in the genitals. One of the other questions were if
they knew of any support network for male victims of domestic violence, only three people knew
any support network. This primary research show what actually people think of domestic
violence against men. They do believe domestic violence against exists but they were not very
informed about it. Some think women are not violent as men. People need to be more informed
about domestic violence against men.

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

In conclusion, Domestic against men is a huge issue, this not only happened to children
and women. Moreover Men suffer from domestic violence too, many people dont see as an issue
because they are more use to see men being the abusers not the victims. During time this had
changed and still is. Before women were not able to work as men, they were not considered
important as men but now women and men are now working in equal jobs and make the same
amount of money. This literature review explain the three questions shown before, the different
types of domestic violence men face, the consequences it gets from each type o abuse , why do
men dont report domestic violence, and why domestic violence affects men too.

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

References
Barber, C. F. (2008). Domestic violence against men. Nursing Standard, 22(51), 35-39.
Kumar, A. (2012). Domestic Violence against Men in India: A Perspective. Journal Of Human
Behavior In The Social Environment, 22(3), 290-296. doi:10.1080/10911359.2012.655988
Anderson, K. (2001). Verbal Abuse. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
Types of Abuse www.loveisrespect.org. (2013). Retrieved November 1, 2015.
Baumeister, R., & Bushman, B. (2008). Agression and antisocial behavior. In Social psychology
and human nature. Belmont, CA, California: Thomson Higher Education.
Stein, K. (Ed.). (2008). Navigation. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
Cohn, D., Livingston, G., & Wang, W. (2014, April 8). After Decades of Decline, A Rise in Stayat-Home Mothers. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
Sexual Assault of Men and Boys | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. (2009).
Retrieved November 2, 2015.
Reynaert, M. (2015). SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN AS A FORM OF POWER ABUSE
AND ABUSE OF THE BODY. Acta Theologica, 35(1), 189-200. doi:10.4314/actat.v35i1.11

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men

Running Head: Domestic Violence against men