Can anyone provide examples of cases where male victims of domestic violence were denied resources ?

Question

Men in this forum frequently attack VAWA for its bias against men. But I have not seen any examples of cases where a male victim of domestic violence was denied the kind of benefits that VAWA provides.

I suspect that many male victims do not seek the resources in the first place, due to a stigma associated with being a man and being a victim of DV. This would skew the stats, would it not?

Answer 1

I know from working in community services there were fewer shelters for adult men then there were for women and children. Often a homeless man would come in looking for a shelter and it would be hard to find one for him.

These of course weren't abused men, just homeless for whatever reason. I think there should be a higher priority for abused women and young children since they are much more vunerable and would face greater threats sleeping in the streets.

Answer 2

Doodlebugjim says:

"In the UK every government council has been written to asking why there is no provision made for male victims of domestic violence. The answer was nearly always the same: there is no need. One of two councils said that they could allocate a room or two in a women's shelter to male victims, but I doubt that would go down to well with the women in the shelter!"

I don't see how this supports your suggestion that men don't seek resources. The fact that the councils have been written to means that male victims are seeking resources (otherwise, why write?), but are being denied the resources because the councils feel there's no need. In fact there is very much a need. doodlebugjim posts a couple of links over and over again which are concrete proof that the rates of DV are roughly 50/50. This is worrying.

The reason we never see examples is that they are laughed at and never seen as worthy of being made public. This is very sad. I don't see why I'm automatically immune to DV because of my gender and why I should be laughed at and denied help if I report DV against my partner. It is a worrying situation that needs changing and fast. It is because men prefer privacy and silent suffering to open ridicule and denial of help that they usually don't report DV against them.

Answer 3

Domestic violence organisations in the UK..run for women by women responding to the awareness of domestic abuse in the 1970's were/are often charities run on a financial shoestring.  It is only in very recent times the the Labour government have recognised the need to fund them, but there is still a long way to go, and so many services are under threat.  If men need similar services, please, feel free to learn from the past and fundraise for facilities responding to need, often based on economy of the scale of the problem. So, it has taken 40 years for women's refuges to even begin to prove that they are offering an invaluable resource to society, saving the government an awful lot of money, as domestic abuse costs the economy billions yearly.

No the stats are not skewed, the criminial justice system is still geared to respond to the needs of men, if the number of reported incidents to the police and other agencies reaches levels as experienced by female victims, trust me, a man's refuge would be open on every street like Starbucks! Oh! and there would miraculously be enough money to fund it.

Answer 4

Your husband.

Answer 5

"In response to frequent documented cases of s*x-based discrimination by VAWA-funded programs, Senator Orrin Hatch made the following statement in 2000 to clarify Congressional intent:

Despite the need to direct federal funds toward the most pressing problem, it was not, and is not, the intent of Congress categorically to exclude men who have suffered domestic abuse or sexual assaults from receiving benefits and services under the Violence Against Women Act."

"In 2002, the OVW (VAWA administrators)instructed the Delaware Domestic Violence coordinating council that, “states must fund only programs that focus on violence against women.”

"VAWA-funded hotlines ignore an important underserved population: men. One woman from Washington State recounts the experience of an abused male friend. The man “called the state’s Domestic Violence Hotline, the one MY tax dollars pay for, and because he is male, they told him he was probably a batterer and a liar.”

Sources and more examples can be found here:

http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARrepo...

Answer 6

Are you suggesting that every shelter in the US(or abroad) helps men? I'm sure that this isn't true.

Why do feminists have such a hard time with men not wanting to endure abuse? Why must women be able to abuse men with men having no help? It seems to me that this would be an 'open and shut case'.

Answer 7

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1609...

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/a...

"Although a significant number of domestic violence victims are male, VAWA defines victims as female. As one result, tax-funded domestic violence shelters and services assist women and routinely turn away men, often including older male children."

Answer 8

Actually a womens shelter that I know of does not reserve rooms for men.  (I was on the board when we adopted the policy).  However, they do have an arrangement with private families and hotels to provide rooms for men and their children (and for overflows of women as well).  They have a support system for males, but once out of the home men mostly want to go it alone.  This also keeps their children from getting counseling if they witnessed the abuse.  

This is not the norm but this is also a large city with lots of resources.   In the small county I live in we have resources as well.    Some men use them, some don't.

Answer 9

In the UK every government council has been written to asking why there is no provision made for male victims of domestic violence. The answer was nearly always the same: there is no need. One or two councils said that they could allocate a room or two in a women's shelter to male victims, but I doubt that would go down to well with the women in the shelter!

Edit

No Elf. Men are reluctant to request support, but when they do they find there is none:

"the plight of male victims is compounded by:

• A greater reluctance to report, even when injured or suffering chronic abuse

• More likelihood of them being disbelieved or even ridiculed if they do

• A greater likelihood of being themselves arrested

• A dearth of effective support services for them including emergency accommodation – they being often directed to bed and breakfasts or hostels unsuitable for fathers with children"

http://www.dewar4research.org/DOCS/Pligh...

Edit

"What I am seeing in some of these answers is that there is insufficient **documented** evidence of the need for resources for men."

This is silly. If feminsts have successfully covered up the research on domestic violence against men, what chance do you think there is of anyone listening to research proving that men need resources too? That is even if such research reached the public arena - read page 112 here of how feminists have covered up DV research in the past http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawrevie...

""In an attempt to keep me from speaking... at an American Civil Liberties Union conference... [the ACLU] were told if they allowed me to speak the place would be bombed".