Violence Against Men Essay

The earliest literature reference to domestic violence against men can be found in the studies of Suzanne Steinmetz (1977,1978) entitled, “The Battered Husband Syndrome.” She hypothesizes that the incidents of husband-on-wife beatings rivals the incidents of wife perpetrated batterings, and that it was husband abuse not wife abuse that was underreported form of domestic violence. Steinmetz used two United States populations, a broadband nonrepresentative group and a random sample in New Castle, Delaware in the form of police reports and family surveys. The small study found only small differences in the percent of men and women who resorted to violence in the context of pushing, shoving, or hitting with hands or an object. This suggested early on that domestic violence is not a one way street. Husband beating is a serious issue and needs attention due to the fact that it is grossly underreported. Steinmetz received numerous criticism from her colleagues on this concept. In later studies, Murray Straus, Richard Gelles, and Suzanne Steinmetz (1980), authors of the book, Behind Closed Doors: Violence in The American Family, supports Steinmetz’s earlier studies in finding that women acted violently during marital affairs compared to a similar number of men who act violently in the United States. The study used 2,413 family surveys, finding in majority of them that the level of violence was a mutual or bilateral activity, with only 27% of cases finding that husbands were the

Families in which husbands are abusive to their wives depict these social attitudes and furthermore, convey messages to their children that domestic violence is tolerable in society (Abraham, 1995). This notion is also argued by Gelles and Smith who stated that “wife abuse is more common among couples who witnessed their mothers being abused and/or were abused when they were a child” (as cited by Furze et al, 2008, p213). Therefore, domestic violence is caused by patriarchal structures and male domination in socialisation.

Module one focused on domestic violence and understanding the basics, which include the dynamics and common tactics that characterize domestic violence, impact on both the individual and society, and solutions to domestic violence. The website was easily accessible, and the information provided about the topic of domestic violence was both useful and interesting. Several statistics were given throughout the module that helped get across the seriousness of domestic violence. For example, one in four women are victims of domestic abuse within their lifetime. That statistic alone expresses how common domestic violence is within society.

The third resource that I used is from the Office of Justice Programs/Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). A specific article titled “Intimate Partner Violence in the United States” shows a graph of intimate partner violence rates declining from 1993 to 2006. The article is quite vague, with no real description or stats stating whether or not men commit more violence against women than women do against men. “Violence between intimates is difficult to measure because it often occurs in private, and victims are often reluctant to report incidents to anyone because of shame or fear of reprisal” (S. Catalano).

The article constructs domestic violence as an issue of gender, race and socioeconomic status. Women are identified as the “majority” of victims (Taylor 2014). Consequently, the article conceptually represents domestic violence as events of intimate terrorism where one partner violently terrorizes the other partner to gain complete control over the relationship, which is entirely perpetrated by men (Johnson 2012). With that said, Johnson (2012) points out that majority of domestic violence is situational couple violence, where both the man and the

Radical feminists also suggest that domestic violence is evidence of patriarchy as men use the threat or use of violence to control women. Domestic violence is a widespread problem being a sixth of all violent crime in 2007 and the cause of over 100 deaths per year. Domestic violence is mainly perpetrated by men against women with 1 in 4 women being assaulted by their partners at some point in their lives and only 1 in 7 men being assaulted. However these figures may be under

The United States has a long history of domestic violence. Nearly six million American women will be battered by their spouses every year (United Way, 1998). Tradition gives men the right to control their family including their wife. Violence

“Every year, in the United States there are over 3 million incidents of reported domestic violence. Every year, 4,000 victims of domestic violence are killed.” (Domestic Violence: Disturbing Facts about Domestic Violence). Domestic violence is a crime that is not just committed in the United States, but worldwide. This crime is committed every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. Anybody can be a victim or the abuser. This can happen to any child, man or woman. This is a horrific crime. Women are more likely to be the victim in domestic violence than men. “Forty-five percent of all violent attacks against female victims 12 years old and older by multiple

Moreover, In various states, a domestic disturbance is a violation of the state. The leading cause of injuries in the United States is domestic violence which is affecting society. A majority of American couples will encounter a domestic violence incident once in their lifetime while in a relationship. Statistics reveal that a third of the nation regarding women is homicide victims that are murdered by former husbands or a spouse. A percentage of self-destruction attempt concerning battered women is at the twenty-six. Research shows that women who are not married are expected twenty-five percent more to encounter a domestic disturbance.

It is also known that domestic violence usually increases in frequency and intensity. Research has shown that about 2 to 4 million women will experience some kind of domestic violence each year in the United States, and about 23% to 34% of women will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. This aggression towards women results in physical injuries, physical health problems, psychological disturbance, and, in some cases, death.

Our culture refuses to hold women equally accountable as men for their participation in Domestic Violence. Women’s behavior whether perpetrator or victim, is understood and passed off as socialization or poor economic status. On the other hand men are held fully accountable for all of their behavior. “Despite the tough guy stereotype all boys are encouraged to embody and the abuse many bear as a normal

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime

The focus of this paper is to bring more public awareness to domestic violence against men. Our research proved that little or no concerns are given to battered men who cry out for help from the law enforcement; in most cases minimum rights are given to them in court. Domestic violence against men is not being addressed with a sense of urgency as it is for women. Limited resources are available for the abused men and minimum funding are provided for assistance of any kind. Statistics show that domestic violence reported rate may be higher for women than men since men tend to hide the abuse due to pride and society stereotype. There is a great need for equal opportunity for the abused victim whether that individual is a male

Domestic violence used to be considered a private family matter and was not considered a societal problem until feminists in the 70's started pushing the matter. Beginning in the 1970’s, social policy toward female victims of domestic assaults focused on improving legal response and

According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.