DETERMINING SUPPORT DIFFICULTIES FOR MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE PERPETRATED BY WOMEN by Baowei Shen A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION IN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Weber State University Ogden, Utah May 16th, 2023 Approved DeeDee Mower, Ph.D. C. Ryan Dunn, Ph.D. Keith V. Osai Keith V. Osai (Aug 1, 2023 16:15 MDT) Keith Osai, Ph.D. Table of Contents Determining Support Difficulties for Male Victims of Domestic Violence by Women ............ 1 Literature Review....................................................................................................................... 2 The Definition of Domestic Violence ................................................................................. 3 The Prevalence of Male Victims ......................................................................................... 4 The Reason Why Men Refuse to Report Domestic Violence They Experienced ............... 6 Shameful Feeling ......................................................................................................... 6 Avoid Escalating .......................................................................................................... 7 Professionals Do Not Believe Male Victims Exist ...................................................... 8 The Ways to Support Male Victim Who Experienced Domestic Violence ......................... 8 Purpose..................................................................................................................................... 11 Method ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 13 Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 25 Limitation ................................................................................................................................. 30 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 31 References ................................................................................................................................ 33 ABSTRACT In the popular thought, woman have always been treated as victims of domestic violence, but male victims have always been ignored by public. Therefore, this study aims to know the reason why most male victims refuse to report domestic violence to public and discover what kinds of support they hope from police and professionals. This study used quantitative research through a questionnaire to collect data from male victims. The questionnaire was sent to heterosexual male victims who are in a romantic relationship with partners of domestic violence by e-mail. After one week, the participants sent the questionnaire with their answers back to researcher. The study analyzed their frequency of being abused, the data about reasons why they do not report, and the data about the support they hope. This research discovered that male victims received more financial and psychological abuse from their spouses. However, male victims do not want to report the domestic violence they received due to the shameful feeling, the love towards wives and children, and the distrust towards police. Also, male victims hope for more direct support such as interceding in conflict and protect their children. Moreover, male victims hope the support from law enforcement and health care professionals includes a respect for their privacy. 1 Determining Support Difficulties for Male Victims of Domestic Violence by Women The definition of domestic violence is any kind of physical, verbal, financial, emotional, and sexual abuse (Barber, 2008). Perhaps in the future, there will be more kinds of abuse that are included in the topic, but abuse has always been “unwanted violence, aggression, humiliation and intimidation” (Du Plar-Jones, 2006; Hester & Westmarland, 2005). Normally, children and women are more likely to be the victims and men are more likely to be the perpetrators, but men can also be abused by their wife or romantic partners. Additionally, male victimization of domestic violence occurs in not just heterosexual relationships but also in other types of social situations and gendered groupings. Even though domestic violence against men is currently considered a marginal issue, it still needs to be addressed, and has recently come to the public attention. Rempel (2001) stated that in North America, the amount of time men and women experience abuse or domestic violence by their partners is the same. In other words, the statistics shows that the women aggressors are committing domestic violence at roughly the same rate as men. However, men do not commonly report their abuse. In the British Crime Survey (2001), 19% of men are affected by domestic violence and just half of those reported abuse by women. However, in 2004, fifty percent more men experienced abuse by their partners than in previous years (Barber, 2008). Women with higher social status may have more power than ever before, which may be one of the reasons for the increasing number of men being abused by women. As women’s status changes, so does their collective behavior. There are several potential reasons to report domestic violence. Some studies shows that men in particularly, chose not to report abuse, because they do not want to lose their 2 families and their contact with their children (Büttner A & Kolbe V, 2020; Rempel, 2001). Another reason may be a stereotype that continues about men having more physical and emotional strength than women which causes society to disbelieve that a woman could overpower a man. This belief allows professional groups and even law enforcement to be less likely to help men who have experienced violence against them (Barber, 2008). Abused men, like women, feel shame, humiliation and embarrassment after spouse abuse which has been found to potentially result in reluctancy to report domestic violence experienced (Rempel, 2001). It is now time for society to raise awareness towards these men who are abused by their partners. Also, the healthcare professionals and law enforcement professionals should be more supportive when men experience and report domestic violence. Barber (2008) mentioned the importance of healthcare professional including nurses when they face this abused group of men. Kolbe and Büttner (2020) also encourage the physician and hospital staff should put more emphasis on the abuse of men. Literature Review This literature review discusses the definition of domestic violence which includes whether women or men, who experienced domestic violence, experienced physical, emotional, financial, and/or sexual abuse. Next, the literature will show the evidence of the reasons why men refuse to report domestic violence they experienced. The final part of the literature review includes studies that offer solutions for the men who suffer abuse by their partners and expectations on society to pay more attention to men who are victims of domestic violence. 3 The Definition of Domestic Violence In case people in today think that egregious domestic violence is only carried out by men, this part of literature review illustrates that men commonly suffer the same kind of domestic violence as their female counterparts. First, many studies that will be mentioned, indicate that there are intersections about the definition of domestic violence. Barber (2008) mentions that the term domestic violence only includes physical abuse, but domestic abuse includes all the other types of such as emotional, financial, and sexual abuse. However, authors use the terms domestic violence and domestic abuse interchangeably. In 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defined domestic violence as incidents of controlling, threatening, and forcing behavior. Then, the concept of “male battery” is illustrated in Rempel’s (2001) study, which gives the detailed violent behavior perpetrated by men such as “pushing, slapping, punching, kicking, breaking bones, cutting, killing, throwing objects, smashing items over the victim and choking, etc.” (p. 1). Also, Barber (2008) mentioned “battery” which is unwanted, deliberate violent behavior. So, to sum up, the domestic violence is a collection of various kinds of abuses and men can be the perpetrator. Most of the past research on domestic violence does not regard men as the only perpetrator of these violent behaviors. Kumar (2012) puts an emphasis on violence and how violence is related to power dynamics. It depends on economic empowerment and the feeling of insecurity the one who feel insecure when the partner starts to discuss about who earned more money, the one who earned less and feels insecure is more likely to be the victim of violence. These definitions of domestic violence are split into various abuses and violent 4 behaviors. Aragbuwa (2021) analyzes 101 comments on two different news outlets that are both talk about the tragic incidences caused by domestic violence against men. The people commenting on those sites from two topics have common ideas that domestic violence is unjust, but it may be because of a reactionary self-defense in which the woman changed from a perpetrator to a victim and vice versa. The Prevalence of Male Victims It is wrong to assume that females are always the victim of domestic violence, some women behave more violently towards their intimate male partners. Fontes (1999) and Kumar (2012) both mentioned that the men and women have the same probability to be the perpetrator in domestic violence. Kumar (2012) discovered that 50% of spousal domestic violence is bidirectional meaning 50% of abuse is given and received by both partners. Further, in the other 50% of spouses, 25% of them are only abused by men, and the other 25% are only abused by women. Peate (2017) shared the investigation from Mankind Initiative (2016) that 128,767 men in England and Wales reported that they have been the recipients of domestic abuse in 2015. However, the number of men who were abused earlier were much less in number. The figures were steadily increasing from 2012 to 2015: 115,818 cases in 2014, 92,139 cases in 2013, 73,548 cases in 2012. Fontes (1999) used the time that men received domestic abused as a marker, recording that adult male victims abuse by women occurred about every 14.6 seconds. At the same time, women who were abused by men about every 15 seconds. The Federal Criminal Police Office (CITE) mentioned that the men in the middle age, 30 to 39-years-old are more likely than older and younger men to be abused by women. 5 Kolbe and Büttner (2020) gathered surveys from other studies and summed up the result that shows the rate of domestic violence suffered by mentally and physically healthy men and unhealthy men are different. They found that 3.4% to 20.3% of healthy men suffered from physical violence, 7.3% to 37% of healthy men suffered from psychological violence, 0.2% to 7% of healthy men suffered from sexual violence. However, if men have psychiatric disorders or disabilities, the figure increases to 31.8% (physical violence), 42.9% (psychological violence), and 4.1% to 8.8% (sexual violence). Du Plat-Jones (2006) has investigated 100 men about the frequency and sort of domestic violence they experienced. The researcher found 75% of men experienced physical abuse more than once a month, 66% of those men were abused more than 10 times, 50% of men were threatened by weapons, and 40% of those who were threatened by weapons were injured severely, 33% of the men reported being kicked in the genitals, 16% were burnt or scalded, and 10% were stabbed. The injuries in this investigation seem obvious as well as Archer (2000) mentioned women are more likely to perpetrate physical abuse towards men and they do more frequently. However, Kumar (2012) mentioned women seldom implement physical abuse, they usually use mental, emotional, or verbal violence which in some ways can be more harmful than physical violence. Kolbe and Büttner (2020) found that 67% of men who are affected by domestic violence have no obvious or severe injuries, but underlying and unseen problems like hematomas, contusions, pain, and head injuries are still the most common bodily traumas in domestic violence reported. From these studies, the stereotype that women are the only victims of domestic violence should be reconsidered. 6 The Reason Why Men Refuse to Report Domestic Violence They Experienced Because of the stereotype that regard men as physically, financially, emotionally stronger than women, male abuse victims are less likely to be believed and receive help. Rempel (2001) asserts that feminists regard men as aggressors and the opponents of women’ s rights, this kind of philosophy also leaves a negative impression of men, even though some people still believe this is not the truth. Men who are abused by their partner are more likely to be ignored by society and fewer men report that they are abused by their intimate partners. Some studies discussed sexual equity in domestic violence. Kolbe and Büttner (2020) mentioned that the movement of sexual equity is related to the growing number of domestic violence which are perpetrated against men. So, along with the development of the feminists and the movement of sexual equity, the male victims will feel serious shameful feeling. Also, shameful feeling is not the only reason for male victims not to report their experience, they will be afraid of losing spouses or children, and the change in work place (Kolbe and Büttner, 2020; Kumar, 2012; Rempel, 2001). Moreover, Cook (1997) and Lewis, Sarantakos (2001), Barber (2008), and Lawrence (2003) mentioned the ignored and unhelpful fact about some organizations which provide service for victims of domestic violence and the society, all of these pushed male victims refuse to report the abuse they experienced. Shameful Feeling Some studies highlight men’s feeling when they face domestic violence. Men are commonly defined by society as persons who cannot control their emotions and behavior, even though there is no study to substantiate this stereotype. However, this impression of men can cause them to feel shame to expose the fact that they experienced domestic violence, the 7 male victim will feel loneliness and is afraid of losing patriarchy. Moreover, the male victim will associate disclosing domestic violence with divorce which can escalate violent behaviors from partners, family problems, and the terrible effects on children. These reasons force the male partner to possibly choose not to report instances of domestic violence, yet, rather choose to still live in distress. Barber (2008) stated that women and men will both feel shame, guilt, loss of self-worth, and confidence, but men are less likely to report the abuse and violence they experienced. Rempel (2001) mentioned that the men who are abused by women will experience a lot of personal and social implications which can feed into a stereotype: that when men acknowledge that they have been abused by their wife admits personal cowardice and weakness. Moreover, the author enhances the idea that humiliation and embarrassment might affect male victims more seriously than women. Also, Rempel (2001) mentioned that more times men choose to keep silent after they were abused, they will feel more shame about the awkward experience which led them to choose to not report domestic violence, this process is a vicious cycle. As a function of feeling ashamed, men regard the acceptance of domestic violence by women as “a threat of their man folk, superiority, and masculinity” (Kumar, 2012, p. 291). Avoid Escalating Sometimes, the reason why men do not report the domestic violence is not due to shame, but because they do not want to brake-up their families. Kolbe and Büttner (2020) stated that feeling shame is not the only reason why men refuse to report domestic violence, but also because males were afraid that they will not be able to have any contact with their 8 children. Rempel (2001) mentioned that men are afraid of losing their children and wives. The author also rejects the idea that society always thinks men do not care about their families in the same way as women. For example, Kumar (2012) pointed out that the decreasing number of men and increasing number of women in the workforce is associated with reluctance among male abuse victims to report. At the same time, men who experienced domestic violence by their intimate partner continue to often be ignored by society. Barber (2008) found that male victims are often ignored by police, and some of men who report to the public, faced discrimination and prejudice. Professionals Do Not Believe Male Victims Exist Also, most of time the women are not found guilty or arrested by the police. Also, Cook (1997) and Lewis and Sarantakos (2001) mentioned that the male victims were always ignored by society and media because it was a taboo topic. Both UK government resource manual (YEAR) and The Royal College of Nursing’s guidance (YEAR) has not put emphasis on male victims. Furthermore, the physical professionals also showed disbelief and discrimination to the men who report the domestic violence, and the care agencies usually do not admit the fact that women can be the perpetrator of domestic violence (Barber, 2008). Lawrence (2003) stated that there are many supportive resources and websites, but they are only available for female victims. The culture of blaming victims and the disbelief and discrimination against male victims all influence men to be less willing to report the incident of domestic violence. The Ways to Support Male Victim Who Experienced Domestic Violence According to the circumstance that men seldom report the domestic violence, it is 9 important for every supporter to recognize which group of men are more likely to be abused by intimate partner. Kumar (2012) suggested that men are more likely to be abused after being married for a few years, especially if they are married more than 7 years. Also, the men who suffer domestic violence in the first year of marriage, will be abused in the same way throughout his rest of their lives (CITE). Moreover, a lot of men who experienced domestic violence were educated and had higher-paying jobs. Victims have a number characteristics… Some studies suggest ways that supporters might help male victims of violence. Verena Kolbe and Andreas Büttner (2020) highlight the importance of clinical-forensic examination. This is a professional and sustained record of victims’ injuries which can be used in surgical care and in court as secured evidence. The author advocated that all doctors should have sufficient capabilities to identify, solve, and document symptoms of victims accordingly. Also, the physical care givers and hospital staff should have more training about the clinical-forensic examination to increase their awareness of male victims. Also, Gelles (1999) mentioned that society should acknowledge the existence of male victims of domestic violence, and the health professionals such as nurses must improve their understanding and awareness of the experience of the males who have experienced domestic violence no matter which kind of domestic violence they suffered. Health professionals should be humble, sympathetic, and sensitive when they encounter male victims and invite them to talk about the domestic violence they experienced. Aragbuwa (2021) mentioned the complexity of identifying perpetrator and victim in specific incidences. He suggests that supporters should help in investigations so that injustices do not occur. Further, Barber (2008) recommends that professionals should focus 10 on listening to what the victims say and give sensitive feedback to receive more information from them. Barber (2008) added that the professional should not be judgmental in order to take care of male victim’s dignity, privacy, and confidentiality. Besides, the nurses need to have best practices and evidence about domestic violence against men which keep up with times. Also, nurses should be familiar with sufficient and supportive information of the resources victims can use to get more support and help. For example, the shelter for men to be safely separated from abusive partners, welfare benefits, and appropriate information and advice from self-advocacy groups to ensure that male victims can get help in court and access to their children from social services. DeRidder and Tripathi (1992) mention the norm-violation theory which can help support and identify specific actions that are regarded as offensive and have been found to increase violent reactions by partners. The Department of Health (2005) provided information regarding the methods for nurses to help women victims of domestic violence which can also be implemented for male victims: 1. Ensure the victim is totally safe. 2. Give appropriate information and guidance. 3.Encourage victim to talk about their experience of being abused. 4. Provide reassurance and support. 5. Avoid judgement. The Department of Health (2005) listed some points that nurses should consider when treating victims of domestic violence: 1. Recognizing the local support service. 2. Provide a helpful place for victims to talk about their experience. 3. Be familiar with the signs which can prove someone experienced domestic violence. 4. Understand which type of question can encourage to tell the secret to you. 5. Help and validate the person who report the abuse. 6. Give the information about the support agencies. 7. Make sure the information is recorded in detail and accurately, but not write 11 down in hand-held record. 8. Make sure to maintain privacy and follow the trust guideline if you need to share the information. 9. Figure out every health need of the victims. Rempel (2001) asserted that society needs to have the same perspective of domestic violence and abuse for all victims. People should not take gender into consideration when they talk about domestic violence. The male victim of domestic violence has not been found to experience less abuse than women because of his gender. Purpose Domestic violence was defined as an unwanted combination of physical, emotional, financial, sexual abuse. Rempel (2001) and Kolbe and Büttner (2020) mentioned the sexual equity movement shaped men as the aggressor of women’s rights and provide no possibility for men to be abused by women. More recently, professionals have highlighted that women are not the only targets of domestic violence. Peate (2017) demonstrated that the number of men who were affected by the incident of domestic violence from women have increased dramatically since 2012. Besides, the studies demonstrated that the domestic violence committed by women is no different from that committed by men. However, studies point out many reasons why men had no willingness to report the domestic violence they experienced which carried out by women. Barber (2008) stated that the men are traditionally regarded as physically stronger than women which is the reason they were often discriminated against and disbelieved by police and health professionals. Also, some of the men feel shameful and humiliation after they are affected by domestic violence, some of them worried about their families and children, some of them even have not realized they have been abused by women. The purpose of this study is to support heterosexual male victims affected by 12 domestic violence from partners. Findings from this study can raise social awareness of male victims and the police, nurse and health professionals should be more sensitive, supportive and helpful to solve domestic violence against men. This study aims to investigate the reason why male victims choose not to report domestic violence they experienced and find out their authentic needs after being abused by their intimate partners such as some kinds of support they hope from police and professionals. Method This study was designed using a quantitative approach. An online survey was the main method of gathering data. The first part of the survey investigated the participants’ situation of domestic violence from their intimate partner, the frequency with which they are subjected to physical/psychological/sexual/financial domestic violence were recorded. The second part was designed to find why participants choose to bear domestic violence from women and never discuss it publicly in pursuit of help. The questionnaire provided some reasons for participants to mark between 1, which represents that the reason does not at all correspond to their situations, and 5, which represents that the reason perfectly corresponds to their situations. The third part of survey was designed to assess what kinds of supports male victims want and how medical and mental health professionals and polices can help male victims to protect their physical and mental health. The questionnaire consists of multiple-choice questions and Likert-type scales. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 6 heterosexual men in United States who were in romantic relationships with women. The data includes the answers of single-choice question and scoring questions were collected. The participants sent their answers via 13 Qualtrics Survey Tool. From the first part of the questionnaire, I calculated the mean of the times male victims experienced physical/psychological/sexual/financial domestic violence. In the second part, I gathered the mean score of each reason and sorted them to see the primary reason why male victims refused to report domestic violence. In the third part, the score of each support was calculated and sorted by order to see which kind of support male victims hope for the most. Data Analysis Table 1 Demographic Details Age Ethnicity Highest level of educational attainment Options % Count 18–24 year 66.67% 4 25–34 year 0.00% 0 35–44 year 33.33% 2 45–54 year 0.00% 0 55–64 year 0.00% 0 ≥65 year 0.00% 0 Total 100% 6 White 66.67% 4 African American 0.00% 0 Asian 33.33% 2 American Indian or Alaska Native 0.00% 0 Hispanic or Latino 0.00% 0 Total 100% 6 Less than high school 16.67% 1 Associate degree 16.67% 1 Bachelor degree 33.33% 2 Technical degree 0.00% 0 14 Current relationship status Amount of yearly income MA/MSW/MS 16.67% 1 PhD/DSW/PsyD 16.67% 1 MD 0.00% 0 Other 0.00% 0 Total 100% 6 Single but have girlfriend 40.00% 2 married 60.00% 3 Divorced 0.00% 0 domestic partnership 0.00% 0 Widowed 0.00% 0 Total 100% 5 <20000$ 0.00% 0 $20,000–$34,999 60.00% 3 $35,000–$49,999 20.00% 1 $50,000–$80,000 0.00% 0 >$80,000 20.00% 1 Total 100% 5 This survey is a small sampling which included only 6 participants. All of them are heterosexual male victims of domestic violence. It is assumed that each gave truthful answers to the questionnaire that provided data for this research. Among all participants in this survey, four of the males were 18–24 years-old, and the other two participants identified as being 35-44 years-old. Four male participants reported their ethnicity as White, and the other two identified as Asian. Moreover, when asked about their level of education, one male victim chose ‘less than high school’ as his highest education attainment and only one chose “associate degree.” Two of male victims had bachelor’s degree, one chose a master’s degree (MA/MSW/MS), and the last male victim’s highest education attainment was 15 PhD/DSW/PsyD. Furthermore, three male victims reported being married, two were single but reported having girlfriends, and one male victim did not answer the relationship status questions. The reported amount of yearly income shows 3 male victims made between $20000 up to $34999 per year. One victim reported making between $35000 and $49999 per year, and one victim reported making more than $80000 dollars per year. In the first dimension of this questionnaire, questions were about the frequency of domestic violence which male victims suffered. Table 2 Q1 - How often do you feel that you have received physical domestic violence? # Answer % Count 1 Once/twice a month 100.00% 6 2 Weekly 0.00% 0 3 Multiple times a week 0.00% 0 4 Almost daily 0.00% 0 5 Every day or more 0.00% 0 Total 100% 6 When asked about the frequency of physical domestic violence participants received as psychological abuse within one month, all 6 (100%) participants had at least “once/twice a month”. Table 3 Q2 - How often do you feel that you have received psychological domestic violence? # Answer % Count 1 Once/twice a month 16.67% 1 2 Weekly 33.33% 2 3 Multiple times a week 33.33% 2 16 4 Almost daily 0.00% 0 5 Every day or more 16.67% 1 100% 6 Total The second question asked the frequency of psychological domestic violence male victims felt they suffered in a month. The data shows that one male victim (16.67%) suffered once/twice a month, two male victims (33.33%) suffered weekly, the other two male victims (33.33%) suffered multiple times a week, and one male victims (16.67%) mentioned that he was abused daily or more. Table 4 Q3 - How often you do you feel that you have received sexual domestic violence? # Answer % Count 1 Once/twice a month 80.00% 4 2 Weekly 20.00% 1 3 Multiple times a week 0.00% 0 4 Almost daily 0.00% 0 5 Every day or more 0.00% 0 100% 5 Total The third question asked about the frequency of sexual domestic violence male victims experienced in a month. Five male victims (83.33%) received once/twice a month and one (16.67%) reported experiencing sexual abuse weekly. Table 5 Q4 - How often do you feel you have received financial domestic violence? # Answer % Count 1 Once/twice a month 50.00% 3 17 2 Weekly 33.33% 2 3 Multiple times a week 0.00% 0 4 Almost daily 16.67% 1 5 Every day or more 0.00% 0 100% 6 Total The fourth question asked about the frequency of financial domestic violence which male victims suffered. The results show that three male victims (50.00%) suffered once/twice a month, two male victims (33.33%) reported suffering weekly, and one victim (16.67%) reported experiencing financial domestic violence almost daily. Table 6 Q5 - The situation of male victims of domestic violence rate how much the following reason describe their points regarding why male victims do not want to report domestic violence they experienced to the public Question 1.Worried about how reporting an incident will affect my child(ren). Options This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me % Count 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 Mean 2.33 0.00% 0 16.67% 1 50.00% 3 0.00% 0 This is a lot like me 2.You need to get used to this kind of life because you are married This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 2.17 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 18 This is a lot like 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 33.33% 2 me 3.You love your spouse This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 4.33 0.00% 0 66.67% 4 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 This is a lot like me 4.You fear you will never see the children again This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 3.50 0.00% 0 50.00% 3 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 50.00% 3 This is a lot like me 5.You think she will change This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 3.83 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 This is a lot like me 6.You don’t have sufficient money to leave your partner This is not at all like me This is a little like me 3.17 0.00% 0 19 This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 66.67% 4 0.00% 0 This is a lot like me 7.You have nowhere to go This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 2.33 0.00% 0 16.67% 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 33.33% 2 This is a lot like me 8.You will feel embarrassed if other people discovered you are abused This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 4.00 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 This is a lot like me 9.She threatened to commit suicide if you left This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 2.83 0.00% 0 33.33% 2 This is a lot like me 20 10.You are afraid that she might kill you or somebody you love if you leave This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 66.67% 4 0.00% 0 16.67% 1 2.00 0.00% 0 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 0.00% 0 16.67% 1 This is a lot like me 11.You think the police will not do anything that will change the situation and they might make it worse. This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 3.67 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 This is a lot like me 12.You are fearful that the police will not treat it seriously This is not at all like me This is a little like me This is somewhat like me This is almost like me 3.83 50.00% 3 33.33% 2 This is a lot like me The second dimension was about the reason why male victims seldom report the fact that they have received domestic violence. According to the data, the study found that male victims’ reasons more commonly include love towards their spouses and children, all six 21 male victims (100%) showed positive attitude in category three and five, they still love their spouses and believe their spouses will change their actions to treat them in the future. Additionally, half of the participants (50%) can not accept the situation that they can not see their children after they report the domestic violence they received. Moreover, when asked… four male victims (66.67%)indicated that they do not worry that their spouses would hurt someone he loved, and category nine showed half of male victims (50.00%) did not feel that their spouses would kill herself. Besides, the shameful feeling would occur authentically, all male victims (100%) considered they would feel shame in every sense after reporting domestic violence. Also, most male victims (n=5, 83.33%) did not trust police and thought police would not treat male victims seriously and might even make the situation worse. Table 7 Q6 - The situation of male victims of domestic violence rate each of the services from the health care professionals Question 1. Do you hope that health care professionals can provide you with enough information to deal with the domestic violence in your relationship? Options I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 2. Do you hope health care professionals will provide you with specific help when you are experiencing domestic violence from your female companion? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope % Count 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 Mean 3.00 3.33 22 3. Do you hope health care professionals asking you detailed questions about your injuries and psychological damage? I have hope more than moderate level 16.67% 1 I strongly hope 33.33% 2 33.33% 2 00.00% 0 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 00.00% 0 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 00.00% 0 16.67% 1 50.00% 3 I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 4. Do you hope that health care professionals should ask detailed questions? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 5. Do you hope all health care professionals take domestic violence seriously? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 3.00 2.83 3.67 In the third dimension, participants gave answers about whether they hope to get some specific helps from health care professionals. The data shows that male victims have various 23 opinions towards information and specific help from health care professionals, but male victims prefer specific help rather than information. Two victims (33.33%) chose“strongly hope”in category two and two victims (33.33%) chose “somewhat hope” in category one. However, most male victims (n=4, 66.66%) still hope health care professionals can treat domestic violence they received seriously. Moreover, male victims reported a neutral attitude upon detail questions which asked by health care professionals. Table 8 Q7 - The situation of male victims of domestic violence rate each of the services from the law enforcement professionals Question 1. Do you hope the police will help you stop the violent behavior of your partner? Options I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 2. Do you hope the police will guide you to find further help from a health professional? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 3. Do you hope the police will protect your children from your partner after you report the domestic violence? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope % Count 16.67% 1 0.00% 0 50.00% 3 0.00% 0 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 0.00% 0 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 mean 3.33 3.50 3.83 0.00% 0 24 I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 4. Do you hope the police can remove your partner from the home even if there are young children at home? 5. Do you hope the police will intercede in the conflict between you two in case of divorce? I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope I don’t have any hope I just have a little hope I have moderate level of hope I have hope more than moderate level I strongly hope 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 50.00% 3 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 16.67% 1 33.33% 2 16.67% 1 3.00 3.17 According to the data of male victims’ hope of support from police, most participants (n=5, 83.33%) had a positive view that the police can help them to stop the violent behaviors from their partners and two (33.33%) strongly hope the police can restrain the domestic violence directly, but one victim reported not having any hope of that at all. Also, five (83.33%) victims reported a moderate level of hope, or more, hope to find further help from a health professional, and two of victims reported moderate level of hope, one reported more than a moderate level of hope, and one victim reported really hoping that health professions would provide needed help. However, one victim (16.67%) does not have any hope that 25 police would be able to guide them to healthcare professionals at all. When asked about how the police protect victims’ children from their partners after they report domestic violence, there were five male victims (83.33%) who reported hope that the police would be able to protect their children to prevent them from being abused. The victims’ answers became dispersive when questioned about the support from police to remove the offending partner away from home even though there was a young child at home. There were two victims (33.33%) that reported a moderate level of hope, one (16.67%) has moderate hope, one (16.67%) has strong hope, one (16.67%) has a little hope, but one (16.67%) has no hope at all. Comparisons with category four provided information that male victims seem to want police to intercede in the conflict between couples in case of divorce. Two victims (33.33%) reported hope for a more than moderate level of intercedence from the police and each of the other four participants reported moderate, little or no hope for help from police (16.67% each respectively). Discussion It was found that the physical domestic violence which is the most familiar kind of domestic violence in people’s mind occurred least frequently in male victims who suffered physical abuse from their partners at least once or twice per month. Meanwhile, the male victims seldom received sexual domestic violence from their partners. However, the frequency of receiving psychological and financial domestic violence were higher for male victims, especially, most male victims who suffered psychological abuse more than once per week. The result from this study is not similar to Du Plat-Jones (2006). However, like Kumar (2012) findings from this study. If the women became a perpetrator of domestic violence, 26 they seldom abused men physically, but more often psychologically. Also, the data about male victims who received sexual domestic violence in Kolbe and Büttner’s (2020) study is only 0.2% to 7% which is the same result that was gained from this study. Sexual violence was not reported to be common in this study. This may be because men are even less likely to report this kind of abuse. This study revealed that most male victims admitted they feel embarrassed to report the domestic violence from their partners and they do not want to let other people know they have been abused. All male victims who participated in the survey acknowledged they have a different extent of shameful feeling if someone discovered that their domestic violence was caused by a woman. The number one reason why men did not report the domestic violence is because of embarrassed feelings like the research of Barber (2008), Rempel (2001), and Kumar (2012). Their research also mentioned that the male victims feel shame, less confident, and humiliation. Meanwhile, male victims think they will lose their value, superiority, and masculinity in society which holds them back from reporting their pain to anyone else, even the people who can really support them. Moreover, male victims feeling shameful is not the only reason the survey and former researchers confirm. In the current study, four participants showed the reason why they refuse to report abuse is because they care about their children. Three (50%) of those surveyed authentically gave this reason as their own reason, which is similar to the research of Kolbe and Büttner (2020). Male victims were afraid to lose contact with their children if they chose to report. Also, Rempel (2001) mentioned that male victims still fear losing their wife, which supports the result of “you love your spouse”. All victims showed more than an average amount of empathy toward this reason. The research showed 27 the participants in this study did not report worrying about whether their spouse would commit suicide or hurt their children or someone they love if they reported the domestic violence. This suggests that participants care more about whether their spouse and children will leave them (like move away from home) literally and do not believe the violence that had happened to him will happen on the female, or other people he loves, because male victims still have love connections with their spouse and still trust their partners. This belief was confirmed in the survey data as well. All participants showed positive views on their spouses’ future behaviors; they reported believing their partners would change. Besides, participants rarely worried about how the reporting will affect their children. Therefore, one of the potential reasons why male victims refuse to report is because their self-considered love connection with their partners and their children and they are afraid of losing that love connection. Participants did not see any other possible negative consequences on their spouse and children to themselves after they report the domestic violence. Furthermore, most male victims do not consider police as a supportive role. They think the police would not treat the domestic violence which happened to them seriously and may make the situation worse. Barber (2008) had similarresults in his research, he mentioned the male victims had always been ignored by police. Besides, my survey takes male victims’ financial situation as a possible reason into consideration. On average (M = 3.17) participants in the current study indicated that they did not think their financial situation can let them leave the perpetrator as an option. However, if they must move out from their home, most male victims think they still have a place to stay. So, the advice from Barber’s (2008) research cannot apply to the participants in this survey. He 28 suggested healthcare professionals need to provide a completely safe shelter for male victims. However, all 6 male victims in this study reported not worrying about the place they can go to ‘hide’ for several days, they just think none of these reasons are enough for them to leave their spouses and children. According to the answer the different kinds of support from healthcare professionals and law enforcement, male victims who participated in my survey prefer specific help from healthcare professionals rather than to get more information on how to deal with domestic violence by themselves (M=3.00). Male victims can accept the healthcare professionals’ questions to them about the injuries and psychological damage they have received (M=3.00), but they do not hope healthcare professionals ask questions about other domains in detail (M=2.83). This study discovered more than half male victims hope healthcare professionals can treat their domestic violence seriously (M=3.67), but male victims are sensitive to the privacy and detailed information and hope healthcare professionals can provide direct support. As Gelles (1999) mentioned, the health care professionals should be sensitive and experienced to help men those who suffer domestic violence. Professionals need to understand and be aware of the indications of men who may have experienced domestic violence. Moreover, comparing the data of this survey and the support information for female domestic violence victims, this study found that both male and female victims pay attention to their privacy and encourage healthcare professionals to use respectful and encouraging ways to get information from the victims. However, the male victims look like do not need more information or indirect support from professionals. Compare with health care professionals, the supports from law enforcement professionals are more welcomed among 29 male victims. All the participants in the survey hoped for an above average extent that law enforcement professionals would help. The need to stop the violent behavior, find more help from health care professionals, protect children, remove partners away from the home, intercede in the conflict, are seen as ways to ‘protect children’ (M=3.83) which received the highest mean score among the rated supports. This proves that men really care about their children. In the study, ‘Remove partner from home’ has a positive but natural score which suggests male victims cannot decide easily whether to let their partner leave their home as an appropriate and effective way to keep themselves away from domestic violence. Rempel (2001) mentioned that men care just as much about their families as women do, so the reason why they do not want to report domestic violence is due to the love towards family and the attitude towards the support of protecting their children and removing their partners does not look more reasonable. Four (75.00%) of the participants in this study reported having a bachelor or higher degree as their highest education attainment, which is the same result as Kumar’s (2012) study. Many male victims, who experienced domestic violence, are well-educated. However, three participants (60.00%) only received $20,000 to $34,999 per year which is a lower than the average amount of yearly income that the results of Kumar (2012) noted. Kumar (2012) mentioned that a lot of male victims of domestic violence have well-paid job. However, in the power dynamic concepts, the one who has the lower salary is more likely to be the victim of domestic violence. So, if the man, whose yearly income is below average, he is more likely to be abused by a partner who has a well-paid job. Four participants in the survey are young people who are between 18 to 24 years old, which is not the same as what the Federal 30 Criminal Police Office found. They mentioned that domestic violence is more likely to happen to 30 to 39 years old men. However, in this study, two participants are between 35 to 44 years old. As a result of this small sampling survey, 2 male victims are both between 35 to 44 years old even though results show that 30-39 year-old men have more possibility to be victims of domestic violence. Limitation The findings from this study adds to the research regarding male victims of domestic violence, however, it is not without its limitations. This research used a small sampling survey and the amount of data this study has collect is far from enough to seek determine the frequency of domestic violence that male victims experience, the reason why they refuse to report and the support they hope to receive. This research can only confirm the same result in some former journals (Barber, 2008; Du Plat-Jones, 2006; Kolbe & Büttner’s, 2020; Kumar, 2012; Rempel, 2001), but the result which are different cannot testify to how the situation of male victims has changed today. Also, the survey asked the frequency of four kinds of domestic violence male victims experienced per month but by default, ignored that they may not experience all the kinds of abuse. Even though the questions were not forced to be answered, the way the questions were listed and the lack of illustration of each kind of domestic violence, may have guided participants to perceive irrelevant abuse, which makes the data somewhat inaccurate. Moreover, this research has not discussed to what extent of abuse the man have experienced and if that abuse is defined as domestic violence in men’s mind. This study realized that different cognition towards abuse will affect the reason why they do not want to report and the support they hope. Perhaps, some men are not ‘suffering’ 31 from domestic violence, or they get used to the domestic violence or even enjoy it to some extent. Most of the past research on domestic violence focused on female victims of domestic violence and use the definition of domestic violence from the perspective of female victims to consider some men who may have experienced the same kind of behavior as victims by default, but this is not a precise way to define abuse. Future studies should focus on men’s opinion upon domestic violence before finding out the support they hope to find. Also, the support male victims hope for depends on how they define domestic violence. Conclusion This research focused on three dimensions: the frequency of 4 kinds of domestic violence that male victims experienced (A, B, C, D), the reason why they do not want to report domestic violence, and the support from healthcare professionals and law enforcement professionals they hope for. The aim of researching all these dimensions was to understand the situation of male victims of domestic violence and find out the reason why people seldom see the report of male victims to raise the awareness of the public and to collect some wishes might have about the support they hope to receive outside of their home. After this study collected data and compared it with the former journals, the finding is that male victims received more psychological and financial abuse than physical abuse from their spouses. Also, male victims still love their children and spouses after they experienced domestic violence and do not want to lose them, especially, when the question asked something about their children. Participants showed great intentions to protect and stay with their kids. Furthermore, male victims hope the support from healthcare professionals and law 32 enforcement professionals can be direct but not the information for them to deal with the domestic violence by themselves. By the way, male victims do not hope the support will implicate their privacy. 33 References Aragbuwa, A. (2021). A standard reading of selected online readers’ comments on domestic violence against men in Nigeria. Men and Masculinities, 24(3), 451-467. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X19898875 Barber, C. F. (2008). Domestic violence against men. Nursing Standard, 22(51), 35-39. Cook, P.W. (1997) Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence. Praeger Publishers, West port CT. Department of Health (2005) Responding to Domestic Abuse: A Handbook for Health Professionals. The Stationery Office. London. Du Plat-Jones, J. (2006) Domestic violence: the role of health professionals. Nursing Standard 21. )4-16. 44-48. Gelles, R.J. (1999) The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence: Male Victims. www.nc fmla.org/gelles.html (Last accessed: August 18, 2008.) Kolbe, V., & Büttner, A. (2020). Domestic violence against men— prevalence and risk factors. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 117(31-32), 534-541. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2020.0534 Kumar, A. (2012). Domestic violence against men in India: A perspective. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 22(3), 290-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2012.655988 Lawrence, S. (2003) Domestic violence and men. Nursing Standard 17, 40. 41-43. Lewis A., Sarantakos, S. (2001) Domestic violence and the male victim Nuance. 3. 12. 3-15. ManKind Initiative (2016) Charity reveals 128 767 men told police they were a domestic abuse victim during 2015. 17 December. 34 http://tinyurl.com/zwe8ae7 Peate, I. (2017). Domestic violence against men. British Journal of Nursing (Mark Allen Publishing), 26(6), 309-309. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2017.26.6.309 Rempel, T. (2001). The forgotten victim: Domestic violence against men.(statistical data included). IndPeate Life (Winnipeg), 22(3), 9. 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