PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@EndToDV.org

DV Awareness Month Sees Intensification of Calls for Recognition of Male Victims of Domestic Violence

WASHINGTON / October 28, 2021 – Domestic Violence Awareness Month is observed each year in October. This year’s observance witnessed a pronounced intensification of activities designed to highlight the existence of male victims of domestic violence, and the range of legal, logistical, and social barriers they face.

The 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act removed sex-specific language, paving the way to providing services for all victims. These changes were consistent with Centers for Disease Control surveys that reveal greater annual numbers of male victims than female victims (1):

  • Males: 4.2 million victims
  • Females: 3.5 million victims

As a result, domestic violence groups began to issue fact sheets and reports highlighting the concerns of male victims (2):

  • The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence created a three-page fact sheet on Male Victims of Domestic Violence.
  • National Resource Center on Domestic Violence published a report on Serving Male-Identified Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.
  • Safe and Together Institute sponsored a podcast on The Male Victim.
  • WomensLaw.org website developed a page on Male Victims.
  • Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence includes a chapter in its Sheltering with Care Manual on the topic of Serving Male Survivors in Shelter.
  • New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence features a report on Violence Against Men in New Hampshire.

In March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 2021 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explained that the VAWA bill “prevents intimate partner homicides and expands protections for victims and survivors – whether they are men or women.” (3) Rep. Jerrold Nadler likewise emphasized, “VAWA, which is not gender-exclusive, addresses the needs of men and women, children, persons with disabilities, homeless persons, and LGBTQ individuals, among others.” (4) (emphasis added).

This trend intensified throughout the month of October, as male victims were the focus of four statements and awards:

  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein spearhead a Senate resolution for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. She stated, “Millions of Americans, men and women alike, are victims of domestic violence every year.” (5)
  • Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona issued a tweet that stated, “Domestic violence knows no gender. 1 in 4 men in America have experienced similar forms of abuse from an intimate partner.” (6)
  • The Valley Oasis Shelter, which has been a long-term advocate for helping both male and female victims, was honored by the Los Angeles Domestic Violence Council (7).
  • The City of Kirkland, Washington honored a male survivor of domestic violence (8).

The CDC also reports that African-American men are more likely to be victims of partner abuse than African-American women (9). But media accounts that serve to stereotype Black men as abusers contribute to the four-fold disparity of arrests of Black men (10).

A global coalition known as the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance, consisting of 19 organizations located in eight countries (11), recently sent a letter to UN Women, requesting that its annual “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” campaign be expanded to include all victims of domestic violence, regardless of gender (12).

The Coalition to End Domestic Violence urges international agencies, lawmakers, state domestic violence coalitions, abuse shelters, Title IX coordinators, and others to update their fact sheets and assure that all victims of domestic violence – male and female – are afforded equal access to services.

Links:

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 Data Brief – Updated Release, Atlanta, Georgia. Tables 9 and 11. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf
  2. Citations available at https://endtodv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Thirty-Years-of-DV-Half-Truths-Falsehoods-and-Lies.pdf , page 10.
  3. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/31721-5
  4. https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/03/17/senate-house-biden-violence-against-women-?cid=share_fb
  5. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=8751A4EF-8387-4C9D-A1AA-12F3B9C351AD
  6. https://twitter.com/kyrstensinema/status/1452002952424607751
  7. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CALACOUNTY/bulletins/2f71a67
  8. https://equalityforboysandmen.org/city-of-kirkland-invites-male-survivor-of-domestic-violence-to-receive-dv-awareness-month-proclamation/
  9. Centers for Disease Control, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010-2012 State Report. Tables 5.3 and 5.6. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs-statereportbook.pdf
  10. https://endtodv.org/black-men/
  11. https://endtodv.org/coalitions/international/
  12. https://endtodv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/UN-Women-Ltr.-10.27.2021.pdf