Sometimes men are the victims, sometimes boys are the victims also. But because they don't speak up we might not know. This is a must read for every woman, man , boy and girl.

Violence against men

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, use of extreme  force, cause of destruction, breach of peace using behavior or action against a member of the family or whom one have intimate relationship with.

Domestic violence can take a number of forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse such as acid throwing that results in disfigurement or death.

Domestic violence against men deals with domestic violence experienced by men or boys in an intimate relationship or family. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically; however, the one constant component of domestic violence (IPV) is one partner’s consistent efforts to maintain power and control over the other.

 Additionally, intimate partner violence (IPV) against men is generally less recognized by society than IPV against women.

Physical violence can be of different categories e.g Battery, Acid Attacks, Denying medical care, sleep deprivation, and forced drug or alcohol etc.

Sexual abuse, is defined by World Health Organization as any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion.

 Sexual assault can happen to anyone, no matter your age, your sexual orientation, or your gender identity. It happens to boys and men.

Emotional abuse (or psychological abuse) is behavior that threatens, intimidates, or systematically undermines self-worth. Psychological violence is "the intentional conduct of seriously impairing a person’s psychological integrity through coercion or threats".

Economic abuse may involve preventing a spouse from resource acquisition, limiting what the victim may use, or by otherwise exploiting economic resources of the victim.

Male victims of family violence often face many barriers to disclosing their abuse: They are likely to be told that there must be something they did to provoke the perpetrator’s abuse, can also suffer shame, embarrassment and the social stigma of not being able to protect themselves. In cases of intimate partner violence, they can fear that if they disclose the abuse or end the relationship, their partner might become more abusive and/or take the children, some even feel uncertain about where to seek help, or how to seek help.
Some studies have also demonstrated a degree of socio-cultural acceptance of aggression by women against men, whereas there is a general condemnation of aggression by men against women. This can lead to men not considering themselves victims, and/or not realizing the IPV they are experiencing is a crime. Men, more so than women, can also experience legal and administrative abuse - the use of institutions to inflict further abuse on a victim, for example, taking out false restraining orders or not allowing the victim access to his children. Because of these barriers, men are much less likely to report being a victim of family violence than are women (and women also frequently don’t report violence against them).

Patriarchy and male dominance in the family are clearly among the causes [of IPV], but there are many others. Men hold power advantages over women and that all domestic violence is either male physical abuse to maintain that power advantage or female defensive violence, used for self-protection.  In this sense, any IPV committed by women against men is by way of self-defense. Some other reasons that caused IPV are: when partners aren’t sensitive to my needs, I wished to gain my partner's attention  and  My partner was not listening to me, also inadequate anger management skills.

Many men out there are going through one domestic violence or the other, there should be enough advocacy and societies should rise on Domestic Violence on Men.

Written by Quadri U, Abiodun.