Male Victims’ Experiences With and Perceptions of the Criminal Justice Response to Intimate Partner Abuse

Abstract

Intimate partner abuse (IPA) carries severe physical and psychological consequences for victims, and the police and courts are some of the essential formal structures that help victims address their victimization. Studies suggest that male victims of IPA are reluctant to speak about or report their victimization to the police. This qualitative study examines the experiences male victims of IPA had with the criminal justice system (i.e., the courts and police). We conducted interviews with 16 men who had experienced IPA in their previous relationship in Canada. Two major themes about the police response were identified: the barriers to contacting the police for help and negative experiences with the police response. We found that men who chose not to contact the police did it due to the negative expectations of being ridiculed by the police, not being believed, and fear of being arrested. Those men who called the police for help reported unfriendly and antagonistic police treatment and the police’s reluctance to charge abusive female partners. The themes that reflected the male victims’ interactions with the court pointed to: (1) legal and administrative abuse by female partners, including false accusations and manipulations of child custody, and (2) a general bias against men in the courtroom. This study brings attention to the need for law enforcement officers to be aware of the experiences and perceptions male victims have of the criminal justice system and the need for the criminal justice system to create more inclusive strategies to help male victims of IPA.

Male Survivors of Domestic Violence, Challenges in Cultural Response, and Impact on Identity and Help-Seeking Behaviors: A Systematic Review

“…Most studies mentioned the details of age range for recruitment. The studies were conducted in Israel, Kenya, Hong Kong, Portugal, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Bates, 2019; Dim & Lysova, 2022; Donne et al, 2018; Freeland et al, 2018; Goldberg-Looney et al, 2016; Gonçalves et al, 2022; Gueta & Shlichove, 2022; Hogan et al, 2021; Lysova & Dim, 2022; Lysova et al, 2020; Machado et al, 2016; McCarrick et al, 2016; Simon & Wallace, 2018; Taylor et al, 2022; Tsui, 2014; Walker et al, 2020). The majority of the included studies mentioned the participants who identified as White, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, Chinese, Portuguese, Canadian, Korean, Israeli Arabs, Australia/New Zealand, European, and mixed ethnicity (Bates, 2020; Donne et al, 2018; Freeland et al, 2018; Gueta & Shlichove, 2022; Hogan et al, 2021; Lysova et al, 2020; Taylor et al, 2022; Walker et al, 2020).…”

“…The majority of the included studies mentioned the participants who identified as White, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, Chinese, Portuguese, Canadian, Korean, Israeli Arabs, Australia/New Zealand, European, and mixed ethnicity (Bates, 2020; Donne et al, 2018; Freeland et al, 2018; Gueta & Shlichove, 2022; Hogan et al, 2021; Lysova et al, 2020; Taylor et al, 2022; Walker et al, 2020). Some of the included studies mentioned the participant’s marital status as single, married/non-married or common-law relationship, cohabitation, divorced/separated, and widower (Dim & Lysova, 2022; Freeland et al, 2018; Gonçalves et al, 2022; Hogan et al, 2021; Lysova & Dim, 2022; Machado et al, 2016; Simon & Wallace, 2018; Tsang et al, 2021; Tsui et al, 2014; Walker et al, 2020). Other studies mentioned that some participants identified as being in a current relationship during the study (Bates, 2020; Hogan et al, 2021).…”

Hidden trauma: Men’s non-disclosure of female perpetrated partner violence in selected communities of Limpopo Province

“…Male victims may not disclose their abusive experiences because of fear of losing custody of their children if the couple separates as a result of the reported abuse (Dim & Lysova, 2021). This is because women seem to have greater chances of obtaining custody (Hines & Malley-Morrison, 2001).…”

Clinicians’ diagnostic accuracy of intimate partner relational problems and maltreatment: An international field study.

“…Gender differences have also been found in help-seeking behaviors and perception of satisfaction in help-seeking (Tsui, 2014). Male victims of IPRPM do not usually seek help in mental health services (Cho, Seon, et al, 2020; Cho, Shamrova, et al, 2020; Lysova et al, 2022), while male gender roles reinforce victim-blaming and the myth that only women are abused and that all abuse is perpetrated by men against their female partners (Cho, Seon, et al, 2020; Douglas & Hines, 2011; Dim & Lysova, 2022; Guzmán-Pimentel & Rojas-Solís, 2022; Tarzia et al, 2020; Tsui, 2014).…”

“…The following hypotheses were based on the existing literature: (a) given that male victims of RPM do not usually seek help in mental health services, and that male gender roles reinforce victim-blaming and the myth that only women are abused and that all abuse is perpetrated by men (Cho, Seon, et al, 2020; Dim & Lysova, 2022; Tsui, 2014), we hypothesized that MHPs would be more likely to accurately identify RPM when the victim of violence described in the vignette was a woman; (b) given the lack of previous studies exploring differences by gender of MHPs in the identification of RPM, we used the limited evidence available on health providers to hypothesize that female MHPs would be more likely to accurately identify RPM than male MHPs; (c) finally, based on the evidence in the literature that clinicians lack training and education for screening and detecting IPRPM, we hypothesized that the absence of a co-occurring mental disorder in the patient described in the vignette, the years of clinical experience of MHPs, and greater knowledge/experience of RPM would be associated with more accurate identification of RPM.…”