World of Spousal Abuse

Society and Hollywood show us the stereotype victim of domestic abuse as a vulnerable woman or child. Add to this that there are a lot of avenues of support for them. Yet, what about the man who suffers psychological and physical abuse from a woman?

The male child may suffer abuse while in his childhood years. He will be designated the role as the ‘Scapegoat’ for abuse. He will suffer emotional outbursts of anger with verbal and physical abuse.  He will suffer wrath due to the parent’s own fears, poor self-esteem, unresolved mental health issues, inability to cope with stress of daily life and responsibilities of a parent. This male child may develop anxieties, physical symptoms from stress, anger and feelings of poor self worth.

The findings in a research report done in 2007 by Statistics Canada, Transition House Survey (THS) and the police Incident reports from the Uniform Crime Report (UCR2) reveals the following:

– 32% men suffer Spousal abuse, second to women (61%)
– 23% increase in sexual and physical assaults against Youths (sexual assaults lower for males)
– 57% is perpetrated by the Parent, three times higher than by siblings

– 46% Male children to suffer injuries from physical assaults
– 44% , physical assaults on children and youths by Males
– 53% Spousal abuse found in family violence

– 15% men have weapons used against them (women at 5%)
– 80% charges of assault against Men (66% for women)
– 29% women commit physical assault on children (mothers at 20%)

– 71% stabbing deaths for males in Spousal homicides by partner (women at 30%) but-
– 38% women died from strangulation, beatings, drownings (17% men)
– 86% of child homicides under 18 committed by parent
– 54% children killed by fathers (34% by mothers, 12% by others and relatives)

A male child growing up in such a toxic home environment sets the stage for him learning to become a Abuser - directly from his own family or guardian(s). Advertisements for women suffering abuse are large and found all around urban and rural areas. Education and support is available for these women. What about the men? male child ?

Our society is great for helping those in need but we still need to stop and take a second look at those also still in need. Spousal abuse on men committed by women takes second place as the research findings have revealed and should be further examined.

The adult male and female will enter society with all the skills learned from their home environment. They will enter a relationship and ‘do onto others as was done to them’ since he or she will most likely think - this is normal adult behavior. Acts of abuse upon our partner and family is not normal nor acceptable and difficult to forgive.

A few domestic violence prevention programs have recently started to get set up for men. Access to support groups, shelters, hotlines and encouraging use of therapists are beginning to be available. A first step is to recognize and understand abuse and domestic violence in all it’s forms that can be found in areas such as emotional, financial, sexual and physical abuse. An abused man may stay in a abusive relationship out of fear of losing his children, guilt, religious beliefs or fear of being alone.

Add to this the loss of respect by his fellow peers and other men. Other males will not look at him the same and feelings of powerlessness to correct the problem surface. The emotions that a battered woman feels is the same for a man but the male has no real support to help him understand what is going on. Compassion and understanding is far and few.

The ability to learn new behaviors is within all of us. Unfortunately, we cannot force the abusive man or woman to accept what they are or done. They will find themselves in the court system and may wonder how they got there. Denial of wrongdoing and laying blame on others may be quite the habit to break.

I believe if more efforts by public institutions such as our schools and social workers learned to identify and are mandated to report symptoms of abused children, we may decrease the likelihood of a developing future abuser. One very good sign in regards to the research is that domestic violence has decreased by 15% in a ten year period (1998 - 2007) though the rate of spousal violence against men remained steady. Can you think of idea’s that will help our society overcome this problem? Read related –> here and there.

I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own observations plus give your Vote. Send me a email if you have a request on a topic of interest or to say Hello! It’s FREE to join my Fan club, subscribe by Email, RSS Feed, grab my Free Widget, Link to me or join me on HubPages, with a click of your mouse.

Article(C)2011 Dame Scribe, all rights reserved. Dame Scribe creates articles and posts online. She creates articles on business skills & development, health, science, technology and society and has a strong passion for writing .