Domestic Violence in Men as a Social Justice Issue
Abstract
In contemporary society, people assume that men are the aggressor, and because of their masculinity. Domestic violence against men Is more common and pose severe threats to the victims. Due to the social assumptions, men find it hard to report any abuse that is committed to them. The pride and shame of being seen as weak make them suffer in silence. Various researches show that the police ignore men assaulted by their partners, and the attacker, in most cases, is left to go free. The victims have fewer refuges to free compared to the women victims. The problem with gender violence against men is the failure for men to report, shame, lack of support, and denial in the hope that their partner will change. Some of the solutions to these problems include reporting the abuse to the police, their doctor, or lawyer. These are the individuals that know the rights of men and have connections on people who can give them advice. Victims can also find individuals they trust and talk to them. This will help their feelings of helplessness and isolation. People close to the victim include friends, coworkers, and counselors. Lastly, men can create a safety plan in which they create a course of action they can take when faced with violent partners. This includes deciding the time they are no longer safe at their home. The safety plan also includes the children and pets that may be at risk.
Introduction
Social injustice is the act of discriminating against one group in society and ignoring to recognize their rights and privileges. Males are the victims of social injustice when it comes to domestic violence. Domestic violence is the act of aggression that can be committed by a partner or family member. Domestic violence warning signs include the victims being criticized by their spouses or partners for the small things, forced sex against will, the blame for the violent outburst, and their spouses or partners monitor victims. Other warning signs are the uses of medications are controlled by his or her abusers, the abuser destroys the property of value to the victim and threats made against the victim and other members of their family. Barber (35) stated that domestic violence could be defined from emotional, financial, and physical perspectives. Male victims of domestic violence rarely report their incidents of abuse. According to Barber, a male is abused by his female partner every 14.6 seconds. Male victims often feel ashamed that this act of violence happens to them and struggle to decide what to do next. According to Fink (18), in the United States, intimate partner violence has affected 7.6% of males.
The aim of the study
The NCADV asserts that 1 out of 14 men are assaulted physically by their current partner, spouse, or former partner in their lifetime. Besides, the NCADV found that 835,000 men are abused by their wives, spouses, or partners every year. This is a problem because males feel that they cannot address this matter. After all, no one will listen to them and that any type of treatment will not help them solve their problems. Male victims are silent about domestic violence incidents and do not contact authorities because they think that it is a personal matter, and they can take care of it. Battered men think that they will not be taken seriously if they went to the authorities to report because of the stigma that domestic violence only happens to women and not men (Neeley-Bertrand, 10).
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that stated that the woman involved in the incident was the first to strike and that often the violence was one-sided. The perpetrator was the woman about 70% of the time. Domestic violence is not just experienced in the heterosexual community but also in the homosexual community. Domestic violence shelters‟ focus is women, and options for men are very limited, especially with gay men. According to the Gay Men‟s Domestic Violence Project (n.d.), one in four gay men have experienced some form of domestic violence in their lifetime. Greenwod (2002) stated that their partner abuses males who are gay or bisexual at a rate of 40%. The common types of abuse that male victims experience is emotional, physical, and psychological. Men tend to stay in abusive relationships for the same reasons that women do because they blame themselves for the abuse, there are children involved, and have some type of dependency as it relates to the abuser. The purpose of this study is to address the injustices developed by society to address in addressing domestic violence against men. The study will also address the solutions that can be adapted by the individuals and the society in handling domestic violence.
Theories of Abuse
According to generational theory, males and females who either experienced abuse or witness violence in their childhood are more likely to become involved in violent relationships when they are adults. The individuals learn that society is cruel, and they do not need to be good to their partners (Stets 45). These individuals are a product of a cruel society and which has taught them to be cruel to their partners. Symbolic interaction theory is a theory based on the individual view about themselves and the world. How an individual view themselves through their own eyes is important in determining their individuality. The theory suggests that one has to make sense of other people and behave according to that sense. The behavior, therefore, supports the view of the world.
Different theoretical approaches explain violence in humans. The intra-individual approach examines the biological aspect of violence. This includes how a person responds to aggression and the characteristics displayed by individuals facing aggression. The social-psychological approach assesses how social learning theory is viewed about violence. This approach highlights the factors of violence that are taught throughout life and not the experiences that people go through. The social, cultural approach acknowledges the culture of violence. This approach assesses how violence is used as a way to influence relationships. Masculinity is a major aspect used to perceive individuals in society. All these approaches can be used to determine how individuals in a society develop their violent characters.
The aspect of domestic violence lies around power and control. The cycle of violence, according to the Duluth model, acknowledges that it continues from economic abuse, emotional, and isolation. Partners or family members can use physical force to control their partner by shoving, pushing, slapping, biting, punching, throwing objects, choking, or using weapons to assault them. These partners use intentional physical force to cause death, disability, harm, or injury. Economic abuse includes letting the victims to financially suffer by letting them become financially independent. The abusers feel that they have control over the finances in their households. The abuse takes the form of workplace harassment, stealing from partners, and punishing the victim physically and sexually for unaccounted money.
Emotional abuse includes the undermining of the partner’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Use of words, voice, or use of action meant to control, demean, and hurt the other person. Behaviors expressed by the abusers include name-calling, humiliation, low self-worth, and manipulation. The victims of emotional abuse feel worthless when the abusers use verbal assaults. The victims of emotional abuse may isolate themselves to avoid shame and embarrassment. The victim also feels the need to tell their partners everything they are doing.
The cycle of violence starts with abuse, according to Smith and Segal (123). The cycle begins of abuse begins when the perpetrator displays violent behavior. Guilt is displayed when the abusers acknowledge what they have done but worries about what happens after the violent 17 act has taken place. The perpetrators begin to make excuses for what they had done, and “normal” behavior is displayed so that the victim will not leave the relationship, and the abuser promises to make things better. The fantasizing and planning stage is where the abusers think about committing the violent act again and how they are going to do it. The set-up phase is where the abuser receives the most pleasure because the plan begins to take motion, thus setting up the stage for the violent act to take place (Hines and Douglas, 580). Herrera (17) acknowledges that women possess the same qualities that a male abuser does, such as charm, controlling, emotionally and physically abusive, isolation, and jealously. The perpetrators display “charm” by being on their best behavior and do not show the signs that they are an abuser. Abusers want to have a sense of “control” in everything that does, from working to interacting with others. The victim experiences emotional abuse by being constantly demeaned and has low self-esteem. Jealousy is a trait that is displayed when the abuser is making accusations of infidelity (Younger, 20).
Domestic violence against men as a social issue
Claims of men as victims of domestic violence come in many varieties. The authoritative social research has major faults because it focuses on men as perpetrators rather than victims of domestic violence. This is due to the default position of domestic violence backed up by the fact that society does not seem to encounter a significant need to identify male victims of domestic violence and offer them support. According to the official police record, in the United States, the vast population of domestic violence victims who seek help from police is women. According to the men’s rights groups, male victims are less likely than female victims to report to the police. The feminists, on the other hand, argue that although the females report to the police, there are a huge number of females who do not report due to the fear of the perpetrator.
Hospital data from a US hospital emergency show that 84% of the individuals who seek treatment after an injury by an intimate are women. Hospital under-reporting showed that individuals more likely to be injured in domestic violence are females. The reports of violent crime as a whole show that men have more emergency representations than women. Violence occurring at home may not only include domestic violence, and that why hospital records cannot be entirely relied on to reflect the percentage of male victims who seek treatment. In most cases, hospitals do not categorize the emergency, thus making it difficult for the research to classify domestic violence because it is not consistent across all data sources. Hospital records are, therefore, a clear demonstration of domestic violence against men as a social problem. The hospital provides an underestimated prevalence of domestic violence against men. It is important to consider other investigations conducted through surveys.
National Crime and personal safety surveys show that males are more often victims of domestic violence in either a same-sex relationship or opposite-sex relationships. Still, the injury is more to women than in men. US National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) considered murder and robbery to be part of domestic violence. The survey asserts that there are no significant differences between the males and females who had a serious injury in medical help-seeking since a large population did not seek help (Drijber et al. 175). The young, home-renting, and urban residing population records higher rate victimization than other groups in the society. National surveys are not effective in analyzing domestic violence prevalence in men because of the private nature of families. Surveys that study families close are, therefore, relevant in this project. The community-based survey obtains closer estimates of the level of violence through smaller samples. The survey assesses the physical and emotional abuse of victims of domestic violence. In such cases, women reported more injuries compared to men.
Relationships that are affected by Domestic violence
Domestic violence affects cohabitation, dating and courtship, and same-sex relationships. In most laws of domestic violence, cohabiting relations are not protected. However, these relationships can be considered through factors such as length of the relationship, continuity of the relationship, ownership of property, income and expenses sharing, and sexual relationship between the cohabiting partners (Lowenstein 147). Violence reported through the dating and courtship relationship is known as the dating violence. Despite the relationship, the behaviors experienced during domestic violence are similar. Either male or female, the teenagers suffer mostly affected by intimate violence dating and courting relationship.
Same-sex relationships have major challenges in domestic violence cases. Most cases do not recognize same-sex relationships, and domestic violence, according to these states, occurs to heterosexual couples and not homosexuals. Studies show that men in homosexual relationships are abused more than men in heterosexual relationships. Domestic abuse, therefore, occurs at the same rate in homosexual relationships as in heterosexual relationships (Seelau 363). The violence and the effects are the same, but treatment is different in police reporting. However, in homosexual relationships, the abusers may threaten the victims to expose their sexual orientation. Victims of domestic violence in homosexual relationships consider isolation to avoid the social perspective of their sexual orientation (Hines and Douglas 300). Resources for victims of domestic violence in homosexual relationships are limited because the incidents recorded are mostly of the opposite sex.
Apart from individuals in relationships, children are also affected and victims of domestic violence. Children are the main factor in which victims of domestic violence tend to stay in an abusive relationship. Children experience effects such as anxiety and self-blame due to domestic violence. Children may exhibit behaviors that are connected to the violence that they experience. The child may become batterers and exhibit negative behavior that can make them become isolated, thus making their future life hard.
Impact of Domestic violence on men (Younger,02)
- Self-imposed isolation from family and friends,
- Absenteeism to work due to injuries as they try to hide them,
- Challenges in trusting people especially new partners as they are afraid they may be abused again,
- Alienation from children due to shame,
- Limited access to their funds by the perpetrators and
- Increased expenses on medical treatment.
The solution to the Social problem
The society has created beliefs that do not recognize men as victims. Men are seen as the bosses of their family, and society has ruled out the idea that their partners or children can abuse a man. Some of the barriers to reporting of the victims are social beliefs. For instance, the victims may find it difficult to report domestic violence because the police will challenge their masculinity. The society, individuals, can adopt the following solutions, and the social institution created to eliminate these social injustices.
- Engaging the security sector to prevent and respond to sexual; and domestic violence
Domestic and sexual violence should not be viewed as a private affair only resolved through families and community settings. Domestic violence should be viewed as a public concern that is addressed by the creation of a secure and healthy society. Government institutions such as the police need to ensure effective service delivery of identifying and responding to the security needs of the people despite their age, gender, and sexual orientation. This means male victims irrespective of their sexual orientation will be attended to, and they will find help from the police. The institution, such as the prisons, will create a safe and healthy environment to ensure that no man feels vulnerable to sexual violence.
The security sector should also maintain a safe and secure society to reduce cases of domestic violence. Most of the predators of sexual violence have experienced sexual violence. Providing remedy to these survivors can break the cycle of violence (Kimmel 34). The institution should also provide equal access to security and justice. The security should help men, women, girls, boys, and individuals identified as intersex or transgender to access justice. The system can also help society to eliminate the barriers that men face in reporting. This includes providing support to the victims. Security systems should consider both males and females as victims of domestic violence.
- Advocating for legislation on sexual and domestic violence
The leaders should focus on legislation that will recognize women, men, girls, and boys, heterosexual, and homosexual relationships can be potential perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. Men who report cases in states that have not legalized same-sex marriage should not be prosecuted for adultery, Sodom, or homosexuality. The laws created should include treating male sexual and domestic violence complaints equally.
- Educating the Society
Non-governmental, governmental institutions like hospitals and courts and community-based groups should educate the society that any individual can be a potential victim or perpetrator of any crime. Public awareness should include information on reporting procedures that is more directed to male victims through social media, campaigns, trade unions, print media, and websites (Watson 23). Society can also create follow up groups that will make sure the perpetrators are prosecuted, and the victims are not vulnerable to more danger.
- Creating the right reporting environment
Male victims should be given a chance to choose who they report to. This includes reporting to a person whose identity is different from the perpetrator. The interviews and the reports should also be conducted in private settings to allow the victim to gain confidence and avoid embarrassment. The information they provide should also be relevant to the criminal investigation. They should, therefore, be guided in giving the right information.
- Individual empowerment
The victims of domestic violence can be empowered to abandon an abusive relationship by encouraging them to create a safety plan which they can use when their partner starts to become abusive. This will reduce physical, emotional, and economic effects that are associated with domestic violence. The man will also be able to plan for the children and eliminate the negative impact on their life. Empowering also includes showing men to avoid their male pride and report the cases despite the societal beliefs and stigma.
Criticisms of the solutions
In contemporary society, family and relationship matters are considered private. Many individuals believe that a family is made up of fights and conflicts, and the most effective way to solve the fights is through family counseling. The security system should, therefore, not be included in family-related issues. Men should also not be treated in a special way when it comes to domestic violence. Most of the American citizens believe that most of the men who are abused either physically or economically are not responsible for their duties as husbands and partners. Most of these beaten are their funds limited by partners are drunkards, and most people feel that they need such treatment.
Conclusion
Domestic violence against men is a social injustice in which the male victims are not given the needed attention to protect them through justice systems. The victims are also subject to societal criticisms and stigma. This has made it hard for them to report and seek help through social institutions. Society can solve this problem through a change of perceptions of male victims and advocating for equal services in a criminal investigation. Despite the reason, men also require protection from the government institutions and communities when they fall victim to abuse. The society needs to understand and create laws that recognize both males and females as potential victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.
Work Cited
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