Help Break The Silence
The office for national statistics figures show every year that one in three victims of domestic abuse are Male equating to 757,000 men.
“Shame is an effective silencer - abuse is a Human issue not a Gender Issue”
“The police receive a 999 call every 3 minutes from a Male victim”
“1 in 6 men will experience Domestic Violence in their life”
Nearly half of male victims fail to tell anyone they are a victim of domestic abuse. Imagine your son, grandson, nephew, brother or friend came to you and said “I need help, I’m being abused by my partner”. Imagine the pain, the anger, the terror of that.
Now imagine they can’t or won’t do anything about it because of fear. Fear of their partner, fear of not being believed, fear of not being taken seriously, fear of being laughed at, fear of not knowing who to turn to or where & how to escape.
One in three victims of domestic abuse are male, yet they often don’t come forward. They don’t recognise they are a victim “because it doesn’t happen to men”, they never hear politicians mention men when it comes to domestic abuse and so many awareness campaigns barely mention them if at all.
Domestic abuse against men can include physical violence, as well as emotional & psychological bullying, sexual violence or financial control & abuse.
An abusive partner may hit, kick, bite, punch, spit, throw things or destroy your possessions. To make up for any difference in strength, they may attack you while you’re asleep or otherwise catch you by surprise. They may also use a weapon, abuse or threaten your children, or harm your pets.
One of the most common examples of abuse is ‘name calling’ & ‘put downs’. On the surface you may think that is nothing but imagine yourself in a position where you are experiencing these 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Imagine how that would feel over a period of months- let alone the several years that most victims will endure.
Being put down repeatedly can lead to body dysmorphia or a complete lack of self-worth and/ or self-love. Eventually, the abused becomes under the complete control of the abusive partner.
“Abuse of men happens more often than you might expect, it happens to men from all cultures & all walks of life, regardless of age or occupation”
“I remember being curled up in a ball with punches & kicks raining down on me”
However, men are often reluctant to report abuse because they feel embarrassed, fear they won’t be believed, or are scared that their partner will take revenge.
12,000 men are raped in England & Wales every year.
“A form of control or abuse is the use of children as weapons or bargaining chips”
“In 2020, 4,500 men in England took their own lives”
