Taboo Domestic violence against men

Domestic violence of women against men remains taboo

03/14/2015

Domestic violence of women against men is still a taboo topic. Fearful of not conforming to the social role model, many male victims are ashamed to ask for help. In addition, there are far fewer help offers for them than for affected women.

„Victims are considered male swearword“
Domestic violence by women against men is still a taboo topic. „Women are more likely to get help. For us, the male victims are still isolated cases“, said Karl-Günther Theobald of the victim assistance white ring opposite the news agency dpa. But this does not correspond to reality. The social image of men is also a cause: „The term victim is considered a male curse word“, said the psychologist. „Men do not have to be a victim and certainly not women - that is still the common view.“ There is an urgent need for rethinking in this area.

Domestic violence occurs in all social milieus
According to the expert's experience, domestic violence occurs in all social milieus. Causes can be, for example, stress and stress at work. „The violence always starts from the strongest.“ Men were more likely to strike while women exercised psychological violence. As Theobald explained, gender distribution in such humiliations and tyrannies is different from physical violence. „The problem is that it is hardly done. Psychological violence is by and large not covered by the Criminal Code.“

Fewer offers of help for affected men
But what can affected men do then? In principle, victims, whether male or female, should seek help quickly - from trusted people, counseling services or the police. Mostly it does not stay with single attacks. „Domestic violence is usually not an isolated case, but a fixed pattern of conflict.“ However, there were far fewer help offers for men than for women. „Take the area of ​​sexual offenses: there are plenty of offers for female victims and some for male offenders. But little is done for male victims.“ Affected men will be advised by Theobald, for example, to contact the White Ring or men's advice centers.

Men blame themselves for their behavior
How widespread the problem is, has also resulted in a study in the context of a health study of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which was published last year. According to this, men are affected by domestic violence almost as often as women. Men who want to be particularly fair and therefore do not defend themselves or only late, according to experts are more likely to victims of domestic violence. In addition, it often happens that many of them think that they are to blame for the behavior of the partner or have at least provoked this. A behavior that according to psychotherapists also found in beaten women. On the other hand, perpetrators are not very empathetic and use violence because they believe that they can not help themselves otherwise. (Ad)