Male Abuse Is The Hidden Side Of Domestic Violence

Men don’t tell Male abuse is the hidden side of domestic violence. Representative sample surveys of the population show that abuse is a fifty-fifty proposition when it comes to intimate partner violence. The only exception to these figures is shown in the major national survey produced by the National Violence Against Women survey which found that thirty-six percent of the victims are male (Kimmell, 2001). The issue is not that men don’t tell, no one actually asks. Women on the other hand have the public knowledge that domestic violence occurs. They have shelters and crisis lines to seek help, and there is also someone who cares enough to ask. This equivalent does not exist for men because quite possibly of discrimination.†¦show more content†¦Since these accounts run counter to the stereotypes of male-female relationships, they usually take on the headline grabbing notion of a â€Å"man bites dog† story. Even the police these days are surpris ed by the number of women who are being charged with assault of their intimate partners. Concord, New Hampshire saw a 13% increase in arrest of women for domestic assault in a four year period. Vermont saw a seven percent increase in domestic violence charges filed against women during the same period. And Boulder, Colorado saw 25% of its domestic violence charges being filed against women (Kimmel, 2001). Research on gender symmetry as it relates to domestic violence has been greatly explored. Martin Fiebert (1997) found seventy-nine empirical studies and nearly twenty reviews of literature which supported gender symmetry amongst couples. Archer (2000) reviewed eighty-two studies that supported gender symmetry. In understanding domestic violence, we generally rely on two types of information. The â€Å"crime victimization studies,† which rely greatly on large-scale aggregate data on victimization, and â€Å"family conflict studies,† which provides measurements i n the prevalence of aggression between couples (Kimmel, 2001). These two data sources relay different rates of domestic violence, simply because they are measuring two different things. Crime Victimization Studies Information about crime victimization is gathered from a number of sources.