Does abuse towards men from women exist?

Question

You hear about men abusing women all the time. Therefore, is it safe to say women abusing men doesn't exist? Why?

Answer 1

Women certainly do abuse men. Often this is psychological or emotional abuse, but it is also often physical. However, since our society has strong archetypal ideas of the "strong man" and the "weak woman", it is not often reported by the men experiencing it and when it is reported, is often not taken as seriously. A real travesty of civil rights.

No one should be abusing anyone, period.

Answer 2

No abuse toward men from women does happen.

It just isnt talked about much...for numerous reasons.  

Answer 3

Of course it exists. If you think abuse, harassment, and anything of the kind happens only to women, talk to a lawyer and they'll tell you they've seen everything.

Answer 4

Yes men can be abused by women.  The abuse men suffer at the hands of women is usually different.  Women are more likely to be emotional abusers (they will call names, etc).  Usually women are not physically abusive; and those that are rarely achieve the level of physical abuse has abused women due to the differences in strength etc.  

I am not saying this to take away from the fact that men are in fact abused.  I am just pointing out the differences.  Sadly, these facts can lead many to take men's abuse at the hands of women less serious.  A mistake.  

The dynamic is different, but it is still a problem.    

Answer 5

I really agree with capricorn. And i'd like to add further that some women are stronger than some men so how is it ok for them to hit a weaker man? Same thing with a grown woman hitting a boy.

Answer 6

Statistically, women abuse men more often but women still get hurt more often.

Answer 7

Most serial killers and rapists have an abusive mother in their background. Female sociopaths are harder to detect, their methods are subtle and they will manipulate someone else into doing their dirty work.

Emotional, mental and verbal abuse is favoured by female abusers but they are often violent too.

Here is a link, feminist groups are opposed to information relating to female abusers becoming public and use male violence as a political tool.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...

http://www.freewebs.com/feminism-evaluat...

Answer 8

Nobody's denying it exists, & nobody's saying all men are abusers. I would say abuse like that would tend to be more emotional/verbal rather than physical.  Just a guess, so does anybody have some numbers?

Answer 9

Yes, abuse towards men from women exists.

That one "doesn't hear about it" is irrelevant. (Actually, one does, but not as often in the news, for instance.)

There's a lot of pressure on abused men to pretend it isn't happening (even more than on abused women).

And since sexual stereotypes are alive and well, people assume a woman couldn't hurt a man.

WRONG!

Answer 10

yes, there are women who abuse men.  I know of 2 women personally who do I abuse men.  I also know of  a woman who literally forced her son lay in bed with her and fondle her b*****s because she couldn't find a man; darn near damaged a good guy for life; hopefully by now he's found the help he needs.  Here's a couple of links that talk about the phenomenon.

http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/abusi...

http://www.mankind.org.uk/domesticabuse....  

http://www.familycrisis.co.uk/male.htm

Answer 11

It sure does. Women can be very abusive.  I know a divorce attorney, and the storys he shares with me are unbelievable.  

By the way, the majority of child abuse is caused by women, not men.

Answer 12

Michael, here are a few web sites that you might be interested in if your investigation leads you to study the statistics. I understand that your question today deals more with impressions than statistics (and that's perfectly fine). I just thought you might be interested in the objective data too in the future.

Answer 13

yes ive seen some women be the first one to shove or punch a guy when things started to get heated up at parties or in town

Answer 14

Female on male spousal abuse does occur often and is well documented.  the difference is that women are more likely to use lethal force.

men are also at risk for sexual assault (read rape)  the statistics show that about 1 in four women can expect to be the target of sexual assault and 1 in 10 men.  what this translates to in real numbers is that of the 139.95 million males in the US in 1995, 13,995,000 can expect to be the target of sexual violence in their lifetime.

the difficulty is that in both cases men don't talk about it, and the abuse continues until it kills them

Answer 15

Absolutely Men can be abused.  I was one of them many years ago.

And there's not much help for Men.  Have you ever heard of the Abused Men's Shelter?  I was lucky and able to get out of the relationship before too much damage was done.

It happens a lot more than people think.

Answer 16

Of course it exists - they talk about it on here all the time.  I have to say, if you haven't heard of it, it's probably because you haven't paid much attention to it previously.  Laws regarding domestic abuse apply equally to the sexes, but many refuge shelters are targeted towards women, and men are reluctant to access mainstream domestic abuse helplines.  The UK is currently bringing in new support and funding to help male victims of domestic abuse which should come fully into effect 2009 - 2010.  At the moment they are funding two male-specific helplines but the government will have to change guidelines on how councils spend money awarded to them, which is based on their accomplishments regarding certain targets, making it unwise for councils to spend money on non-targeted areas, such as a reduction in male victims of domestic abuse.

On a personal note, my next door neighbour is constantly victimised by his ex-girlfriend and as a by-stander it's very unsettling not knowing what to do about it.  Part of me wants to call the police and part of me wants to go out and give her a taste of her own medicine, but he says he doesn't want me to do either.  The sad fact is, domestic abuse is unpleasantly similar regardless of which two people it is between, and also sadly very difficult to intervene or help.  I think the problem can be particularly acute for men suffering abuse from women, due to social and individual stigmas about men being the stronger s*x.  I am all for the proposed change in the law regarding how councils spend money, which will enable funds to be spent more usefully, but I think one of the biggest issues will still be convincing men that they need to admit they have a problem, and seek help for it.  Councils are not targeted on the frequency of male domestic abuse issues because there is such a low demand for services.  If people wish service to be increased, they should write or come forward for it, and make their voice heard.  And, of course, I think we would all urge any person suffering abuse to get help, as no-one should have to live their life in physical fear of a another person  :-)

Answer 17

YES.

Read about some of the male serial killers and their background. It's interesting to see that these men were abused by their mothers, and then would go on to hurt other women.....

Answer 18

Many women and men on this forum are equally concerned about the abuse of men and boys.

Answer 19

Of course it exists.

Answer 20

There are men that are emotionally and physically abused by women - the problem is that they are less likely to be open about it because they feel emasculated.They think their friends are going to mock them instead of sympathize with them and that it makes them less of a man. I don't think it is right at all.  

Answer 21

Yes abuse towards men is in fact real.

I know I have said this many times before so forgive me for saying it again. but my dad was a victim of abuse from my mom. as she was a victim of abuse from him. she broke his jaw a week before he died and gave him 2 black eyes. now he did NOTHING to her on that day. she was drunk and mad as heck for God knows what. forgive me for telling this story again. but I don't think I saw the person who asked this question. so I just wanted them to know about my dad.

I have heard many stories of men being abused by women. anyone NO matter the gender can be abusive. anyone can hurt each other. makes NO difference if it's a male or female.

The thing is most men if they do call the police they would go to jail even if they are bleeding they would be the one. sad thing when your the victim and you go to jail.

I didn't stop the abuse to my parents and I feel bad about that. I did try once to stop them I jumped between them and kicked them both to make them stop. needless to say I never did that again. FEAR kept me from stopping them that and I didn't want them going to jail. so that is why I didn't stop the violence.

It's time to wake up and know VIOLENCE knows no gender. it's time to STOP all violence and stop hurting each other. God Bless

Answer 22

It's probably more common than abuse towards women. But men whine a lot less, so you don't hear about it as much.

One of the most underrated crimes against men is emotional abuse from women.

That's why men are emotionally stronger. We HAVE to be.

Answer 23

I hope your asking out of naivety.

Answer 24

Well, I responded to a question like this before (see my source), and yes, it absolutely does.  The problem is that, people see women hitting men as "cute" and "funny" and it's really not. It's NOT okay to hit your husband because he forgot your birthday.  It's not okay to splash a glass of vodka on a guy in a club for trying to talk to you (whatever happened to ignoring people or at least giving a sarcastic response?).  It's all over TV.  We see women hitting men all the time, only to have the audience burst out in laughter.  It's really sad.  My feeling is this: If you are two adults (or at least equals in some way), then why is one person controlling things?  Why is it okay for women to hit men?  Why not just use your words and act like adults?

EDIT: To add to Gashly's comment: People need to realize that, since men usually have more upper body strength than women, a lot of women do go for weapons (cast-iron skillets, hammers, knives, etc.), and NO man can fight that.