Spousal abuse can occur in any household. It does not discriminate, as it equally affects all races, cultural backgrounds, ages and sexes. While most consider domestic violence to be violence by a man against a woman, many men are victims of spousal abuse each year, though it is often overlooked.
Definition
Health website the Help Guide states that spousal abuse, or domestic violence, occurs when one member of a relationship attempts to control or dominate the other. Men are more likely to be emotionally and verbally abused than physically abused, but physical abuse of men is a problem that is often taken lightly.
Signs of Abuse
According to the Help Guide, the main sign that you are in an abusive relationship is if you are afraid of your partner. If you feel like you are constantly having to be careful about what you say or do because your partner may get upset, chances are your relationship is unhealthy. Other signs of an abusive relationship include a partner that constantly criticizes you, puts you down, embarrasses you, ignores your opinions, threatens to commit suicide, destroy your stuff, is jealous and possessive or controls your actions, thoughts or feelings. If you feel you might be in an abusive relationship, it is time to get help. With the lack of shelters and organizations available to abused men, personal counseling may be the best route for seeking help.
Statistics
Drs. Denise Hines and Kathleen Malley-Morrison, in an article published in the 2001 issue of the Psychology of Men and Masculinity journal, say that in one study, 7 percent of men reported being victims of physical abuse at the hands of a partner. In the same article, another study from the National Family Violence Survey was reported to have found that over 12 percent of men reported violence from their wives within the previous year. In a 2003 article by Linda Kelly, a professor of law at Indiana University's School of Law, it was reported that women use violence against men at approximately the same frequency and duration as men, making abuse against men an important problem to consider.
Psychological Affects
Men who are abused often feel violated emotionally, mentally and psychologically, according to Malley-Morrison and Hines. Many abused men, about 75 percent, experience anger after being assaulted while 40 percent experienced emotional pain, 35 percent felt sadness and depression, and even more reported feeling the need for revenge, isolation, helplessness, shame and fear.
Severity
Linda Kelly says that it is hard to decipher the differences in severity between abuse of men and the abuse of women. Women, she says, will throw something at their husbands twice as often as a husband throws something at the wife. Women are also more likely to punch, bite and kick their husbands and threaten the use of knives and guns, whereas men are more prone to shoving, hitting, slapping and beating up their spouse. About 2 percent of men report moderate to severe physical injury from spousal violence, including broken bones or teeth.
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