Abused Men: Forgotten Victims

For centuries women have been oppressed, underrepresented, and over-exploited. One of the areas in which this oppression is most observed is in relation to domestic violence. Domestic violence is defined as; emotional abuse and/or behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay or lesbian; separated or dating who have lived or are currently living together. Violence against women is the most general and well known form of abuse. However, violence against men is on the rise, and few are knowledgeable about this issue. The same societal norms that subjugated women, have also aided in the reinforcement of emasculating and shameful emotions men who have experienced abuse often feel, leading to silence and skewed perspectives. We will be utilizing secondary data from the 2008 National Crime Victimization Survey to examine the occurrence of domestic violence against men. We anticipate finding that there are a substantial amount of victims who are male. We aim to use this information to raise awareness about the occurrence of domestic violence against males, so that men are no longer the forgotten victims, and substantiate the need for unique resources they may need.