Domestic Violence Against Men

Domestic violence

There has been a lot of research done on why domestic violence happens to women and children, but to better understand the whole picture until we recognize that domestic violence is happening to men across the country and all over the world. Currently, there are over "835,000 cases a year that are reported by battered men" (menstuff.org 8). But how many go unreported? Due to society's stereotypes of men being the strong and aggressive ones, people assume that men are always the perpetrators and women are always the victims. The laws that Ohio has regarding domestic violence seem to be gender biased. "Men, who have tried to report their abusers, are usually victimized a second time by the system: at best treated with indifferences or ridiculed, at worst prosecuted as the "real" abuser" (menstuff.org 44). Gender profiling has become a prevalent practice in domestic violence cases. Just like racial profiling, gender profiling, which presumes guilt based on bias and prejudice (menstuff,org 44).

When discussing domestic violence, people usually think about men abusing women. Contrary to popular belief, women do abuse men; it happens more than people think. The reality of this situation is that there are statistical facts proving that men are being battered and terrorized by women. It would appear that society has created one set of rules for women and another for men. Research studies have provided facts such as: "women are three times more likely than men to use weapons in spousal violence, women commit most child and elder abuse, and women initiate most incidents of spousal violence. When women murder adults, the majority of their victims are men. Women commit 52% of spousal murders" (Correy 1).

This is not to point fingers or to disregard the issue of domestic violence against women, but to acknowledge that when women are the abusers, and men are the victims, they need help. Men need the same types of resources available to help protect, educate, and be given legal advice as women. Men should not be made to just leave their homes, their children, and to feel that they are the perpetrators, when in fact, they are the victims.

Domestic violence against men can be gender-neutral, by a combined effort in which views and stereotypes are changed and better guided by our political and justice leaders and by society as a whole. Domestic violence is hurtful, no matter the age, sex, race or gender, and all those who have experienced abuse deserve the same kind of protection by the laws and in our society.

Abuse is any type of coercive pattern that one uses over another to gain control. Battering is a behavior that harms a person with the use of physical and sexual violence. It is also considered batter when threats, emotional abuse, and economic deprivation is used. Domestic violence happens to all races, ages, or sexual orientations. Domestic violence affects people of all backgrounds, religions, and educational levels (The Victims of Crimes, Office of Justice Programs).

The Ohio of revised codes states that "no person shall knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm, threat, or physical imminent danger to any family member. Family members include a spouse, a person living with a spouse, or a former spouse of the offender, a parent or a child, or any other person related by consanguinity or affinity to the offender" (http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2919.25). The law is written as gender neutral, however, evidence from research points out that the law, as it's being enforced, is gender biased. Women do abuse men, and it happens more frequently than one might think. In 1985, Straus and Gelles conducted one of the largest and most respected studies in family violence ever done. According to their research, "not only are men just as likely to be the victims of domestic violence as women, the study showed between 1975 and 1985, the overall rate of domestic violence by men against women decreased, while women's violence against men increased" (Sewell and Sewell 16).

Most states including Ohio have implemented a practice what is called "mandatory arrest." Colorado Springs, Colorado, was one of the seven cities that were studied to see the effects of mandatory arrest before its enactment into law in 1994. The basis for this law was not necessarily to protect those who were being abused, but to protect the police department, the chief and individual officers from getting sued for failing to act. There were four treatment conditions that officers were to enforce when they were called to a domestic situation. When the officer arrived, the officer would call in to dispatch and would then be given instructions to implement one of the following treatment conditions: 1. "issue an emergency restraining order and arrest the presumed offender, i.e., the male. 2. Issue an emergency restraining order and provide immediate crisis counseling for the offender.3. Issue an emergency restraining order only. 4. Simply attempt to restore order only" (Corry p. 9). According to R. A. Berk, "all treatment conditions that included emergency order of protection performed a little better than trying to restore order alone, but arrest did not stand out as most effective" (Correy 10 ).

Prior to the current mandatory arrest laws, when a police officer was called to a domestic violence complaint, they were not allowed to make an arrest unless there were actual eye witnesses. Now, with the newly enacted "shall arrest" procedure, police officers are given the right to act as judge and jury when they feel they have probable cause. R. A. Berk also looked at the measurable effects of mandatory arrest in 1994 and found that the number of arrests did not jump up, but actually the number of 911 calls for domestic disturbances dropped. One can conclude from this that mandating arrest "causes fear and deters many citizens from calling for help, however desperately they may need it" (Corry, Fiebert, and Pizzey 12). Having new laws and policies implemented this brings up the question, who is being arrested? According to the Florida State University Law Review, survey of cases of criminal defendants charged with intimate violence had an outcome that "men were the defendants in twenty-nine out of every thirty cases" (Kelly p.834).

Understanding what it means and what can happen when police arrest the wrong perpetrator is an important factor in dealing with this type of social issue. Enforcing this type of law does not help end the cycle of domestic violence. When men are wrongly arrested, children are put at risk, leaving them with the one who is abusive. Arrest policies should be redesigned to arrest the person who initiated the violence.

Corry makes no