APPENDIX 3
Memorandum submitted by Dewar Research
(i) Dewar Research is an independent research
initiative formed in 1996 to collate information in the public
domain to encourage more informed debate of particular social
issues. It undertook its own survey in 2001 into the experiences
of male victims of domestic violence. The key findings from this
study[3]
reinforced those of an earlier Dispatches survey in autumn 1998
(summary of results broadcast 7 January 1999 on Channel 4)[4],
and underlie many of our comments below. Dewar Research has also
responded to various Government consultations, in particular to
the proposals on domestic violence contained in Safety and Justice
in summer 2003[5].
(ii) The submission is intended to help
promote a more equitable service provision for victims of domestic
abuse, in particular by drawing attention to the plight of male
victims who at present are given scant recognition in public policy
and inferior support services.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— Surveys of male victims suggest that
they face particular difficulties and bias in service provision
and legal processes, with a serious lack of publicly funded support
services for them, and little official sympathy. Indeed, they
often face scepticism by the police and social agencies, as evidenced
by the significant proportions of male victims who report they
are themselves arrested.
— The existence of substantial numbers
of male victims, and of a corresponding substantial level of female
violence in intimate relationships, is still not sufficiently
recognised publicly by Government and the agencies responsible
for service provision and legal processes. In consequence, many
male victims suffer inadequate and often biased treatment from
ill-informed attitudes and lack of specific funding.
— Based on Government detailed studies,
male victims account for between one third and one half of victims
of domestic violence in England and Wales, the proportion increasing
with the severity of the violence.
— Despite these proportions, only about
5% of those prosecuted and convicted for domestic violence offences
are female.
— Father victims and their children
are particularly disadvantaged, fathers who report being vulnerable
to ousting from the family home and the children being officially
left in the care of a violent mother.
— The present marginalised treatment
of male victims is contrary to both Sex Equality and Human Rights
law. It is now deeply and widely entrenched, and can only be addressed
by Government taking the lead in ensuring public recognition of
the problem and by developing appropriate strategic planning initiatives
to promote equality of treatment.
— Initiatives need to include more
equal and effective representation of male victims in domestic
violence fora at all levels and in the determination of public
policy and funding.
SURVEYS OF
MALE VICTIMS
1. The Dispatches survey in autumn 1998
of 100 male victims in the UK found that angry women can be as
violent as angry men. One third of male victims were attacked
whilst they were sleeping, and one third were kicked in the groin.
The men were often deprived of sleep. Half stayed with their violent
partners for more than five years. Among the reasons the men gave
for staying was that they didn't want to walk out on their children,
some were frightened as they had nowhere else to go, and others
still loved their partner and hoped her behaviour would change.
Overall, the picture that emerged was that the plight of male
victims of domestic abuse by female partners was similar to the
plight of female victims of abuse by male partners.
2. However, some notable differences emerged.
Many of the male victims were critical of the police. Those who
had contacted the police said that their complaints were not taken
seriously and in some cases the male victims were themselves treated
as the aggressor. One quarter of the men had themselves been arrested
instead of the violent female partner. Many of the men had not
discussed their partner's violence towards them with anyone else
as they feared they would be ridiculed. The survey concluded that
there was minimal support for male victims of domestic violence
nor sources of help for violent women who wanted to change their
behaviour.
3. The results of the Dewar Research survey,
some three years later, also of 100 male victims (49 in England
and Wales and 51 in Ireland), generally corroborated the Dispatches
findings.
Father victims
4. Because of the lack of publicly funded
emergency accommodation for male victims, abused fathers seeking
to leave home with their children generally have nowhere to go
except private accommodation (if they can afford it). In doing
this, they also risk possible allegations from the mother of abducting
the children. Both the above surveys found that a large proportion
of abused fathers reported they had been forced to leave the family
home, whilst their children remained with the violent mother,
and they subsequently faced considerable difficulties in maintaining
contact with their children. Many abused fathers therefore continue
to "live" with the violence in order to protect their
children.
INADEQUACY OF
EXISTING SERVICE
PROVISIONS AND
LEGAL PROCESSES
5. There have been few qualitative studies
into the adequacy of existing service provisions and legal processes
for male victims of domestic violence, although useful information
is available from non-government studies of male victims (including
the 1998 Dispatches and 2001 Dewar Research surveys) and from
the several Home Office surveys of interpersonal violence carried
out since the previous Select Committee enquiry of 1992. There
is also a considerable body of anecdotal information available.
6. From this, it is fairly clear that existing
service provisions and legal processes are largely aimed at female
victims. This institutionalised bias has evolved from three decades
of polarisation of the issue. Even today, attitudes and policies
from the Government down are still dominated by the perception
that domestic violence is generally male-on-female.
7. The bias continues, despite mounting
authoritative evidence, including from successive Home Office
victimisation surveys, that a substantial number of men are abused
by female partners in intimate relationships. In consequence,
there is minimal public funding specifically to provide effective
support services for male victims, nor are their needs and particular
plight given any serious consideration in policies and debate.
Indeed, additional Government funding to local authorities to
help safeguard victims of domestic violence is provided specifically
for female victims. In effect, male victims are treated as undeserving
second-class citizens. Coupled with this is a widespread lack
of understanding of the nature and extent of female violence,
reflected by the rarity of publicly funded treatment programmes
for violent women.
PREVALENCE OF
MALE VICTIMS
OF DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
8. There is now persuasive evidence from
victimisation surveys and academic studies that a substantial
proportion of adults suffering domestic abuse or violence in intimate
relationships are male.
Detailed victimisation studies of interpersonal
violence
9. The Home Office has published the results
of four such surveys undertaken in the past ten years as supplements
to routine British Crime Surveys (BCSs) for England and Wales.
Each has shown substantial proportions of male victims of violence
by female partners in intimate relationships. These authoritative
studies show consistently that men account for between one third
and one half of all victims of violence in intimate partner relationships,
the proportion increasing with the severity of the abuse suffered
by them.
10. The results of the latest survey, for
year 2005-0[6],
revealed that for the 12-month period preceding the survey, 5.7%
of women and 4.0% of men reported suffering non-sexual partner
abuse (any abuse, threat or force from a partner or ex-partner),
a proportion of male victims of 41%. Of these, 3.0% of women and
1.8% of men reported suffering actual force, a proportion of male
victims of 37.5%, which was designated as "severe" in
the case of 1.8% of women and 1.3% of men, a proportion of male
victims of 42%.
11. In the longer term, since age 16, the
survey found that 28.1% of women and 17.5% of men reported suffering
non-sexual partner abuse, a proportion of male victims of 38%.
Of these, 19.1% of women and 10.4% of men reported suffering actual
force, a proportion of male victims of 35%, which was designated
"severe" in the case of 13.7% of women and 8.7% of men,
a proportion of male victims of 39%.
12. Men also suffer from repeated assaults,
although less so than women[7].
Academic studies
13. The results of over 200 academic studies
published world-wide, mostly in English speaking western democracies[8],
show consistently a substantial level of female violence in intimate
relationships. The studies suggest that, by their own admission,
women initiate violence against male partners in over half of
all domestic conflicts. In about a quarter of cases, the violence
is by the woman only, in another quarter the man only, and in
50% of cases the violence is by both parties. A greater prevalence
of women suffer injury. However, as the severity of the injury
rises, so does the prevalence of male victims. Overall, about
one third of those injured are men.
Under-reporting by male victims
14. It is generally accepted that male victims
chronically under-report violence against them in all situations
but especially in intimate relationships, and on a larger scale
than female victims. Routine crime surveys, in which people are
asked whether they have suffered a "crime" of any sort,
and police statistics which generally record only those who report,
thus tend not to give a full picture of domestic violence.
15. Men, especially younger men, under-report
for a variety of reasons including macho attitudes, but also because
the system, whilst it is dominated by the perception of male-on-female
violence, is not really designed for male victims. Nor is it designed
for the most common form of intimate partner conflict in violent
households, mutual violence, when both sexes are both victims
and assailants. Men do not see the system as male-victim friendly.
Male victims perceive that they will be disbelieved or ridiculed.
Most reporting thus is not to the police or social agencies, but
to less formal but more sympathetic listeners.
16. Although police force policies on domestic
violence are in gender-neutral terms, there is indeed anecdotal
evidence that the police are often not entirely impartial in dealing
with domestic conflicts, giving priority to perceived women victims,
and tending to believe the woman in preference to the man (sometimes
even when he has obvious injuries). Studies of male victims (eg.
Dispatches, 1998; Dewar Research, 2001) suggest that it is the
female assailant who calls the police in about half of incidents,
claiming falsely to be the victim. The same studies found that
over one in five male victims were themselves arrested rather
than the female assailant, ostensibly to prevent a breach of the
peace, but arguably a perverse use of police powers. Zero-tolerance
policies requiring overt police action to resolve a domestic conflict
have a tendency to worsen the situation for male victims, especially
if children are present, since it is assumed that the mother has
to continue to look after them, even if she is the assailant.
17. In emotional and psychological terms,
the experiences of male and female victims have much in common.
Many victims of both sexes later report that the emotional distress
was worse than any physical abuse. It is true that men generally
may have a physical advantage in any domestic conflict, but women
can make up for this by resorting to any handy object which can
be used as a weapon, and/or attacking the man when he is asleep
or otherwise helpless. The greater fear of domestic violence expressed
by women reflects their greater fear generally of all violent
crime, irrespective of actual victimisation.
PROSECUTIONS AND
CONVICTIONS FOR
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
18. Official statistics show that only about
5% of those prosecuted and convicted for domestic violence offences
in England and Wales are female. In 2006[9],
there were 56,402 prosecutions for domestic violence in all courts,
2,050 of them female, or 5.2% of the total. Convictions totalled
35,813, of which 1,776 were female, a proportion of 5.0%. Such
small proportions contrast startlingly with the much larger proportions
of male victims revealed by the detailed studies referred to above.
This suggests either that most male victims, even those suffering
severe assault, do not report to the police, or that, if they
do, the police or prosecution service take a more lenient view
of female violence in intimate relationships, even in cases of
repeated assaults, than they do of male violence.
SUPPORT SERVICES
FOR MALE
VICTIMS
19. There are over 450 publicly funded refuges
in England and Wales for abused women and their children There
are none specifically for abused men and their children. Nor do
male victims feature as a priority in the allocation of local
authority emergency accommodation. National charities helping
women victims receive substantial public funding each year, the
few small charities helping male victims virtually nothing.
20. Local authorities receive about £60
million each year in government funding specifically to support
female victims of domestic violence, but nothing to support male
victims. Authorities are thus not encouraged to provide comparable
support for male victims and their children.
21. Male victims of domestic violence find
it generally more difficult than female victims to access legal
processes, including obtaining ex-parte non-molestation or other
injunctions against violent female partners, especially when contact
is needed in relation to children.
SEX EQUALITY
AND HUMAN
RIGHTS LAW
22. The persisting lack of Government funding
for male victims of domestic violence and their consequent marginalisation
in service provisions and legal protection, despite its own research
evidence, is in conflict with the new Gender Equality Duty and
also with Article 5 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (security of
person). Despite this, strategies on domestic violence produced
by Government (eg. in annual National Delivery Plans), continue
to be still aimed primarily at female victims and male perpetrators.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR
EQUITABLE SYSTEM
FOR BOTH
MALE AND
FEMALE VICTIMS
23. Domestic violence affects both sexes,
albeit to different extents. Ignoring the plight of male victims
is not only inequitable, but is unlikely to solve the problem
of conflict in intimate relationships. It also ignores the plight
of children of violent mothers, a form of child abuse. The present
unlawful bias against male victims is now widely and deeply entrenched
in public policies. It therefore has to be addressed at highest
Government level so that a lead can be given at all lower levels.
24. Government urgently needs to recognise
publicly the existence and plight of male victims of domestic
conflict, and the prevalence of female violence. It needs then
to implement a nation-wide system of equitable service provision
and legal protection for male and female victims and to provide
adequate funding for this. Such system must include more equal
and effective representation of male victims in domestic violence
fora at all levels, from the Inter-Ministerial Group down.
10 September 2007
3 MALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS SURVEY 2001, Main
Findings. MJ George and DJ Yarwood. Dewar Research, October 2004. Back
4
Details of the Dispatches survey, including a summary of
the findings, and a commentary by Professor Kevin Browne, adviser
to the Home Office, are available on the Dewar Research website. Back
5
Safety and Justice. The Government's Proposals on Domestic
Violence. Home Office Cm 5847, June 2003. Submission by Dewar
Research, August 2003. Back
6
"Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005-06:
Supplementary Volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005-06,
by Kathryn Coleman et al. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/07,
25 January 2007. Back
7
Domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking: Findings from
the British Crime Survey 2001, by Sylvia Walby and Jonathan Allen.
Home Office Research Study 276, March 2004. Table 2.5 gives for
victims of severe force in the preceding 12 months a mean number
of 18 incidents per victim for women and of 6 incidents for men. Back
8
See full list and bibliography by Martin Fiebert under "Academic
Studies" on Dewar Research website. Back
9
Source: CPS communication to Adam Afriyie MP, 7 June 2007. Back
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