ISSUES
: Domestic Violence
Chapter 2: Tackling domestic abuse
29
False accusations preventing men from
reporting domestic abuse – study finds
Male victims of domestic violence are reluctant to report the abuse they suffer for fear of
being accused of violence themselves, according to new research by a Teesside University
academic.
D
r
Jessica
McCarrick,
a Senior Lecturer in
Counselling
Psychology
and
Chartered
Psychologist,
says that men are often arrested
under false accusations and their
disclosures of victimisation are
initially dismissed.
She is calling for more to be done
to support male victims of intimate
partner violence – encouraging men
to report abuse and feel assured they
will be taken seriously.
Dr McCarrick has carried out
interviews with male victims who say
that, as well as the trauma of domestic
abuse, their negative experiences are
perpetuated within the criminal justice
system by being treated like the guilty
party or feeling dismissed by the
police.
The number of women convicted of
perpetrating domestic abuse has
more than quadrupled in the past ten
years from 806 in 2004/05, to 3,735 in
2013/14.
Statistics show that an average of one
third of domestic abuse victims are
male.
One man, who did not want to be
named, said he was arrested on three
separate occasions following false
counter allegations from his wife.
He said: “In the latest incident I made
the initial complaint to police asmywife
assaulted me. But when they arrived,
they showed little concern and instead
arrested me because my wife made a
counter allegation. I certainly feel that
more compassion and empathy needs
to be shown towards male victims of
domestic violence.”
Dr McCarrick, who works within
Teesside University’s School of Social
Sciences, Business & Law, says
that this type of account is not at all
uncommon.
“Within my research, the predominant
experience is of men being arrested
under false charges and their
disclosures of being the victim are
not taken seriously, despite having
evidence.
“Men find it incredibly difficult to
talk about their experiences of
domestic violence because of the
shame and emasculation they feel is
associated with it. To find the courage
to speak out, only to be accused of
violence themselves, is incredibly
disheartening and ultimately prevents
countless men from reporting intimate
partner violence.”
Dr McCarrick is calling for more
understanding of the emotional
experiences of men and encouraging
a more balanced, gender-informed
perspective of domestic violence.
“When therewas apositiveexperience
of a police member, one who offered
advice about support services for
example, this appeared to reduce
the negative psychological impact of
being arrested under false charges.”
Intimate partner violence should be
viewed as a human issue rather than
a gender issue, argues Dr McCarrick
and there should be more services
and support to enablemen to seek the
help and sanctuary they desperately
require.
She added: “Campaigners and
researchers made waves in the
1970’s, which had a positive impact
and improved service provision for
women – it is time to do the same for
men.
“Promoting awareness of the plight of
male survivors may encourage men
to report abuse and feel assured that
they will be taken seriously.
“Intimate partner violence is an issue
which affects men and women within
both heterosexual and homosexual
relationships and I would like to see
increased funding to improve service
provision and development in order
to support all people affected by this
issue.”
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from Teesside University. Please
visit
for further
information.
© Teesside University 2016
