APPENDIX 11
Memorandum submitted by The Mankind Initiative
A. BACKGROUND
1. This submission covers the fourth area
under consideration by the Committee—Support for Victims,
including finance and refuge services.
2. It focuses on the lack of support by
government and local authorities for male victims of domestic
violence, who according to the British Crime Survey in the past
six years, are victims of 24% of domestic violence incidents (see
para 24). Home Office research also states that one in six1 men
will be victims of domestic violence during their lifetime.
3. This submission is from The Mankind Initiative,
a small Taunton-based charity who provide a nation-wide helpline
for male victims of domestic violence. They are one of only three
organisations in the UK that provide such specialist support.
4. It is the Mankind Initiative's view that
whilst statistics are available from the government itself, the
government and local authorities do not recognise the male victims
when it comes to financial and pro-active support and help. This
leaves men with few support mechanisms. This is likely to be in
breach of the Gender Equality Duty which came into force in April
2007 and a breach of the Human Rights Act (Article 5 : security
of person and Article 14 : discrimination).
5. The Mankind Initiative would like to
make it clear that it recognises domestic violence as a social
issue with both female and male victims.
B. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
6. According to the British Crime Survey,
24% of incidents of domestic violence (see para 24) over the past
six years have been perpetrated against a man. The Home Office
have also published evidence that one in six1 men will become
a victim in their lifetime.
7. There are only three charities that offer
specialist support for male victims and these are very small and
find it difficult to attract funding.
8. There are over 470 refuges available
to women but there are no dedicated refuges for heterosexual men
and only one for homosexual men. There are only approximately
twelve rooms available for heterosexual men nationwide in the
470 refuges and these are only available when there are no female
occupants. These places are dependent on the goodwill of those
who run the refuges.
9. The Home Office provide local authorities
with £60 million per year in financial support under the
Supporting People initiative for Women at Risk of Domestic Violence.
This funding does not support men and local authorities cannot
bid for money from this fund to support men at risk of domestic
violence.
10. As part of the Best Value regime, local
authorities are measured through Best Value performance indicator
225 (definition of places (2) and sanctuary schemes (7)) on their
provision of refuges and sanctuary schemes for domestic violence
victims. However, this indicator only measures support for women
and children. There is no measure for supporting male victims.
Again, this means there is no institutional recognition or pressure
put on local authorities to provide specialist support for male
victims.
11. Under the Gender Equality Duty, local
authorities and government have a duty to collect information
and then make sure that services meet the needs of all genders.
As well as the British Crime Survey, many local police authorities
provide figures for male and female domestic violence victims.
However, local authorities do not act upon the statistics as they
do not supply specialist support services and provide signposting
for male victims. If police figures are not available, many local
authorities do not attempt to find out the number of male victims
within their community.
12. In paragraphs 9, 10 and 11 above, the
ManKind Initiative believes that there is a case that many local
authorities and the government are in breach of the Gender Equality
Duty and Human Rights Act (Article 5 : security of person and
Article 14 : discrimination).
13. The ManKind Initiative believes that:
(a) Government and local authorities have
a duty to offer specialist support including refuge spaces and
sanctuary provisions for male victims of domestic victims.
(b) Government and other state agencies such
as local authorities, the police and the NHS must publicly recognise
that there are male victims of domestic violence. They must provide
support, information, publicity and funding to support male victims.
Anecdotally, some men find the authorities (police, GP's) do not
believe that a man can be a victim and are met with a response
based on incredulity.
14. Men are the forgotten victims of domestic
violence with few places to turn to for specialist support. This
has to be rectified.
C. THE MANKIND
INITIATIVE
15. The ManKind Initiative is a charity
that manages a help-line that supporting male victims. Based in
Taunton, the charity is supported through donations from individuals,
trusts and private sector donations. Effectively it works on a
shoestring, and the helpline may close in early 2008 because of
the lack of funding. The charity is one of only three small charities
who provide such support. Male Advice Line and Mens Aid are the
others. It also provides training to the police and local government
and only receives formal local authority support through Taunton
Council, which provides an office for the charity at a subsidised
rental.
16. The help-line is manned by trained staff,
but due to funding problems, it has limited opening hours.
17. The calls the charity receives, consist
mainly from victims, or members of their family. Often a family
will ring because the male victim feels ashamed that they are
victims (it is not socially acceptable for many men to admit they
are victims) or they do not want to admit to it, or both.
18. Some telephone calls are referrals from
local authorities, housing agencies or the police.
19. From 1 January 2007 to 10th September,
the help-line has received 235 calls. For the months of June,
July and August, the numbers of calls were 109.
20. The breakdown of calls below are from
1 January 2007 to 10 September:
Table 1
CALLS TO THE MANKIND INITIATIVE'S OFFICE
|
| Victims | 186
|
| Friends of Victims | 10
|
| Fathers of Victims | 2
|
| Mothers of Victims | 10
|
| Other Family Members | 9
|
| Referrals from Housing Agencies | 16
|
| Referrals from Police | 2
|
|
21. The charity tries to refer victims to refuges, when
appropriate. However, because of the very limited number of places
available, suitable placements cannot often be found. Of the referrals
that the charity has made since 1 January 2007, refuges accepted
the placement on only 11 occasions, on six occasions the referral
was refused and on four occasions no place was found.
22. As testimony, the transcript below sets out the experience
one of the female support workers who man the helpline:
What happens when someone calls the helpline
Some callers do not know where to start and some are so relieved
to eventually talk to someone.
Using our survey sheet can sometimes be of assistance, if the
person agrees to it being used, as it directs their thoughts to
following a chronological order of events and can also start to
give the person confidence to confide.
Sometimes the caller is very distressed and you have to wait
for them to calm down, but also give them that permission, that
they seem to need, to cry and then to reassure them that that
it is not a sign of weakness and is perfectly understandable and
acceptable. Some you have to coax and some want to get everything
out in two minutes flat. Once you are able to take control of
the situation, then you can then do your best to help.
What it is like working on the helpline
It can be a rollercoaster of emotions although you cannot
become involved emotionally. One can feel anger at certain injustices
and one can feel a great deal of frustration at the fact you can
make no difference since you know that no matter what you say
the person is not going to do anything about his situation because
"he still loves his abuser".
The other frustration is not knowing if you have made a difference,
although some ring back to say they have followed some of the
options given and their life has changed for the better.
Refuges and Places Available
There are six known refuges that have given up spaces for
men, one of these is in London and is solely for gay men. Of the
other five, the one in Somerset takes local people as a priority.
That usually leaves only four to choose from each offering
one—three spaces, although the West Midlands have recently
informed me that they may be able to give up to five spaces now
if they are not being filled by female victims of domestic violence.
The other refuges are another in Somerset, one in Dorset and one
in Powys.
D. GOVERNMENT STATISTICS:
MALE VICTIMS
OF DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
23. The Home Office definition of a domestic violence
incident is:
Any incident or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological,
physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are
or have been intimate partners or are family members, regardless
of gender or sexuality.
24. British Crime Survey statistics (2001-07) show that
24% of all incidents of domestic violence are perpetrated against
men and that 40%, one in six men and one in four women1 will be
victims in their lifetime.
Table 2
BRITISH CRIME SURVEY
| Thousands
| |
|
| Year | Total
| Male Victims | Female Victims
| % of Men |
|
| 2001-02 | 621
| 117 | 511
| 19 |
| 2002-03 | 501
| 135 | 366
| 27 |
| 2003-04 | 446
| 150 | 298
| 34 |
| 2004-05 | 401
| 92 | 308 |
23 |
| 2005-06 | 357
| 72 | 285 |
20 |
| 2006-07 | 407
| 94 | 313 |
23 |
| Total | 27,332,733
| 660 | 2,081
| 24.33 |
|
| All figures subject to BCS roundings
|
25. Whilst it is acknowledged that there are more female
victims, the fact that 24% of incidents are against men shows
that domestic violence is not a gender specific crime, it is a
wider social problem.
E. INSTITUTIONALISED BIAS
26. What concerns the charity is the fact that one part
of government (the Home Office) publishes these British Crime
Survey figures, but other parts of the government and the wider
agencies of the state, then ignore them or fail to act on them.
This is because they do not provide specialist support for men,
only for women. There is a clear disconnect and therefore a lack
of joined-up government.
27. A good example is that in North Yorkshire, the police2
reported that from April 2006 to January 2007, 21% of reports
to them of domestic violence were from men as victims. However,
The ManKind Initiative understands that despite the significant
prevalence of male victims in the county, there are no specialist
services for male victims and no places at refuges in the North
Yorkshire area. So where are these male victims in North Yorkshire
expected to turn to for help?
28. One male victim stated he had tried to seek support
for three months in his local authority area. No agency, police,
solicitors, local authority or any other agency could offer or
had any resources for support.
29. This lack of support for men suggests a bias against
male victims, amounting to an institutionalised discrimination.
30. Further evidence for this statement is as follows:
(a) Firstly, the government through the Supporting Initiatives
budget offer c£60 million per year. In 2005-06, £59
million was allocated to local authorities through the Supporting
People initiative to provide services for people suffering from
domestic violence. However, this money is only for Women at Risk
of Domestic Violence. This money is not available to help male
victims. Local authorities have to fund any provision for male
victims themselves and the majority therefore do not.
(b) There is no pressure on local authorities to provide
support. The government measures the ability of local authorities
to provide refuges and sanctuary schemes for domestic violence
victims (Performance Indicator BV 225—definition of places
(2) and sanctuary schemes (7)). Again, this is only for women
and children. There is no measure for supporting male victims.
The Audit Commission has been challenged over this but claims
their hands are tied. They can only measure what they have been
asked to measure.
31. The lack of recognition for male victims throughout
the state system means that local authorities, the police and
others do not have specialists who are trained or educated to
identify and support male victims. Training for those who specialise
on helping victims of domestic violence should also include recognition
and training to identify and support male victims.
32. The government only ever make announcements on female
victims. The ManKind Initiative is not aware that the government
has ever campaigned to help male victims. There is a need for
a re-education process to take place and the government has the
authority to take the lead. So far, it has not. This is despite
the government's own figures showing 24% of incidents are perpetrated
against men. To help men, announcements and publicity supporting
the fact that men are also victims of domestic violence would
help in a number of ways:
(i) Firstly, it would give confidence for male victims
to come forward, so they do not feel as though they are alone
and also the fact that their problems are recognised. It would
help to de-stigmatise the issue for male victims.
(ii) Secondly, it would place pressure on the authorities
(councils and the police) to take action, to recognise the problem
and help to support men.
(iii) When writing stories on domestic violence the media
generally only ever concentrate on female victims. Again, this
leaves male victims feeling alone. If the government properly
addressed this issue, this would put pressure on the media when
they are reporting on domestic violence to include men in their
reporting.
E. CONCLUSION
33. The Mankind Initiative considers the government has
a duty to take the lead on highlighting and providing support
for male victims of domestic violence.
34. Currently, the government offers little support to
male victims concentrating all its support on female victims through
publicity, the Supporting People grant system and through the
Best Value indicator.
35. This is institutionalised discrimination, when the
government itself produces statistics through the British Crime
Survey that shows 24% of incidents are perpetrated against men
and that one in six men1 will be a victim of domestic violence
in their lifetime. The government needs to review this especially
because of the Gender Equality Duty and Human Rights Act making
sure that it and state agencies provide adequate support to male
victims.
REFERENCES
1 Walby, S and Allen, J (2004). Domestic Violence, sexual
assault and stalking : Findings from the British Crime Survey.
Home Office Research Study No. 276. London : Home Office.
2 www.thisisyork.co.uk/display.var.1251857.0.fifth_of_all_domestic_violence_victims_are_men.php
1 October 2007
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