The number of women convicted of domestic violence in England and Wales has more than doubled in the past five years according to a report on male victims of domestic violence by the BBC (see article here).
According to Mark Brooks, chairman of the charity Mankind Initiative – who will be a speaker at our National Conference For Men and Boys in November – the increase in the number of women being convicted of domestic violence was due to a combination of three factors:
‘More men are coming forward, the police are taking a more balanced approach to domestic abuse and, unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of violent women in our society.
‘All domestic abuse is about power and control and with both female and male perpetrators the abuser wants to totally control their partner.
‘We need the Government to invest in more services targeted specifically at men rather than just sweeping this issue under the carpet.’
According to an article on male victims of domestic violence in the Daily Mail, twice as many male victims (41 per cent) as women (19 per cent) do not tell anyone about the domestic abuse they are suffering, according to the British Crime Survey.
Writing in The Guardian about male victims of domestic violence, commentator Nicola Graham-Kevan says:
‘Paradoxically, feminist concerns for female victims may have led to the recent increase in arrests of female perpetrators. In the UK, a pro-arrest policy was introduced, requiring police forces to always consider an arrest in domestic violence cases. Although not eliminating police discretion, the policy undoubtedly diminished individual police officers’ discretionary powers. The increase in female arrests for domestic violence suggests that when police officers were freer to exercise discretion, it was exercised more frequently in favour of female perpetrators.’
For more information of male victims of domestic violence click on the following links:
- Male domestic violence victims on the rise
- Violence by women on the rise
- BBC makes a drama out of male domestic violence victim
- Dads at risk from false allegations in custody battles
- Parity UK’s report showing 40% of domestic violence victims are male
- News coverage of Parity’s report in The Guardian
- Human Rights are not for men – Melanie Phllips
- Erin Pizzey, founder of the women’s refuge movement and campaigner for male victims
- Australia’s One In Three campaign
- 15 Key Facts on Male Victims from Mankind Initiative
Glen Poole is UK co-ordinator for International Men's Day, Director at the consultancy Helping Men and news editor of insideMAN magazine. Follow him on twitter @HelpingMen or find out more about his work at www.helpingmen.co.uk.
Men's News From Brighton & Hove, England 
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