Domestic violence has unfortunately been mostly associated with harm inflicted on women by men.
This way of thinking has sadly led to many men being uncomfortable to speak when experiencing abuse by their partners. A research study conducted by information hub HelpGuide revealed that one in three victims of domestic violence are male.
The information hub adds that men, are however hesitant to report when abused due to feeling embarrassed, thinking people might not believe them and worrying that their partners may take revenge out on them.
On a Mzansi Magic reality show that aims at building healthy polygamous relationships, viewers witnessed a man being physically assaulted by his soon to be wife on many occasions. Checking to see whether social media would run a hashtag campaign in order to help the abused man, social media users did not create much hype.
Stating one of the reasons why some male victims of abused opt not to report incidents, senior psychology lecturer at Cumbria University, Elizabeth Bates, shared:
“In terms of the services that are available, they often don’t look like they provide support for men and even though often they do, and I think a lot of the time it’s because the campaigns and things that we have around domestic violence often are really geared towards women and women victims,” reported the BBC news hub.
According to HelpGuide these are other examples of domestic violence:
- Verbal abuse through belittling, or humiliating a partner in front of family, friends, colleagues, or on social media.
- Being possessive, harassing or acting overly jealous.
- Taking car keys or medications, wanting to control where you go and who you see.
- Trying to control the partner’s spending.
Also see: Tips on how to control your short temper
