domestic violence against men domestic violence against men domestic violence against men is violence or other physical abuse towards men in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. as with domestic violence against women, violence against men may constitute a crime, but laws vary between jurisdictions. men who report domestic violence can face social stigma regarding their perceived lack of machismo or other denigrations of their masculinity,: 6 the fear of not being believed by authorities and being falsely accused of being the perpetrator. additionally, intimate partner violence (ipv) against men is generally less recognized by society than intimate partner violence against women, which can act as a further block to men reporting their situation.: 1 part of a series onviolence against men issues domestic violence outline against men management forced genital mutilation forced circumcision involuntary castration malicious castration involuntary penis removal shame-stroke groom kidnapping killing androcide patricide mariticide fratricide avunculicide sexual assault and rape rape prison rape statutory male rape sexual violence related topics reverse sexism prosecution of gender-targeted crimes men's rights movement masculist views on violence sentencing disparity violence against women family law family marriage and other unions and status types of marriages cohabitation concubinage common-law marriage civil union domestic partnership validity of marriages marriage licence marriage certificate prenuptial agreement matrimonial regime void and voidable marriages annulment marriageable age sham marriage amatonormativity dissolution of marriages divorce adultery grounds for divorce no-fault divorce matrimonial causes act legal separation alimony parenting plan residence parental rights custody evaluator (us) parenting coordinator (us) children's issues paternity dna paternity testing legitimacy child custody legal guardian adoption tender years doctrine filial responsibility contact & visitation cafcass grandparent visitation un rights of the child children's rights emancipation foster care ward child support paper abortion paternal rights and abortion private international law private international law divorce marriage hague convention (adoption) international child abduction hague convention (child abduction) hague convention (maintenance) family and criminal code (or criminal law) bigamy child abuse cps (us) child selling domestic violence incest legality of incest parental child abduction paternity fraud the relative prevalence of intimate partner violence against men to that of women is highly disputed between studies. women are substantially more likely to be injured or killed in incidents of domestic violence. some researchers believe the number of male victims may be underreported to law enforcement. for men and women alike, domestic violence is among the most underreported crimes worldwide. intimate partner violence against men is a controversial area of research, with terms such as gender symmetry, battered husband syndrome and bidirectional ipv provoking a great deal of debate. the lines of the debate tend to fall between two basic polemics. the first of these argues that scholars who focus on female-perpetrated violence are part of an anti-feminist backlash, and are attempting to undermine the problem of male-perpetrated abuse by championing the cause of the man, over the serious cause of the abused woman. the second polemic argues that violence against men is a significant problem and underreported, that domestic violence researchers and feminist academics have ignored this in order to protect the fundamental gains of the battered women's movement, specifically the view that intimate partner abuse is an extension of patriarchal dominance, and that concealing violence perpetrated by women puts the abuser herself at risk of future escalation of ipv. one of the tools used to generate statistics concerning ipv perpetration, the conflict tactics scale, is especially contentious. it is notable that when erin pizzey, founder of the world's first women's refuge; in chiswick, uk, reported her data showing that men are abused by women almost to the same extent as vice-versa, she received death threats from feminists prevalence estimation difficulties determining the rate of intimate partner violence (ipv) against males can be difficult, as men may be reluctant to report their abuse or seek help. male victims of violence may face socio-cultural issues such as judgement by male peers, or having their masculinity questioned. intimate partner violence against men is generally less recognized by society than intimate partner violence against women.: 1 for some men, admitting they are the victim of female perpetrated intimate partner violence could feel like admitting that they do not follow the established social role for men, and may be an admission they are unwilling, or unable, to make. on the other hand, many abusive men readily adopt a victim identity. for example, o. j. simpson often referred to himself as a "battered husband". in cases like this, reporting intimate partner violence victimization may lead to exposing themselves as batterers. some male victims fear people assuming that the woman is the real victim, and must have been acting in self-defense or retaliating for abuse. researchers have demonstrated a degree of socio-cultural acceptance of aggression by women against men as opposed to a general condemnation of aggression by men against women. male-on-female intimate partner violence has been shown to cause significantly more fear and more severe injuries than female-on-male violence. this can lead to men not considering themselves victims, and/or not realizing the ipv they are experiencing is a crime. some research has shown that women who assault their male partners are more likely to avoid arrest than men who assault their female partners, because female perpetrators of intimate partner violence tend to be viewed by law enforcement agencies and the courts as victims. as such, some men fear that if they do report to the police, they will be assumed to be the abuser, and placed under arrest. however, analyses of research indicates that frequently the legal system fails to view women who use intimate partner violence against controlling male partners as victims due to gendered high expectations on women to be the "perfect victim" and the culturally pervasive stereotype of the passive, "cowering" battered woman. statistics indicate that under-reporting is an inherent problem with intimate partner violence irrespective of gender. for example, in england and wales, the 1995 "home office research study 191", carried out as a supplementary study to the british crime survey, reported 6.6 million incidents of intimate partner violence in the previous twelve months, compared with the 987,000 incidents found by the crime survey. the difference in the two reports was that study 191 was a questionnaire of a random representative sample of people, while the crime survey attained its figures from crime records, i.e. actual reported cases of intimate partner violence. supplementary studies carried out in 2001 and from 2004 onwards have consistently recorded significantly higher rates of intimate partner violence (committed against both men and women) than the standard crime surveys. the 2010–2011 report found that whilst 27% of women who experienced intimate partner violence reported it to the police, only 10% of men did so, and whilst 44% of women reported to some professional organization, only 19% of men did so. in a 2005 report carried out by the national crime council in the republic of ireland, it was estimated that 5% of men who had experienced violence had reported it to the authorities, compared to 29% of women. estimates of male victimization in england and wales, the 1995 "home office research study 191" surveyed 10,844 people (5,886 women and 4,958 men) between the ages of 16 and 59, finding that for the twelve-month period preceding the survey, 4.2% of men had experienced intimate partner violence. over a lifetime, this figure increased to 14.9% of men. of the 6.6 million incidents of intimate partner violence in 1995, 3.25 million involved male victims, with 1 million incidents resulting in injury. since 2004, more detailed annual records have been maintained as a supplementary survey attached to the annual home office crime in england and wales reports. these reports have consistently recorded significantly higher rates of both male and female victims of intimate partner violence than the standard crime surveys. in the case of male victims, the figures range from a high of 4.5% in 2007/2008 to a low of 3.1% in 2009/2010. in the republic of ireland, a 2005 report carried out by the national crime council found that 15% of women and 6% of men had suffered severe intimate partner violence in their lifetime, equating to roughly 213,000 women and 88,000 men. in northern ireland, police records for 2012 listed 2,525 male victims of domestic violence, an increase of 259 cases from 2011. in 2018, 19.3% of reported domestic violence victims in scotland were male. in the united states, the national violence against women survey carried out by the department of justice in 2000, surveyed 16,000 people (8,000 men and 8,000 women), and found that 7.4% of men reported physical assault by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, or date in their lifetime. additionally, 0.9% of men reported experiencing domestic violence in the past year, equating to 834,732 men. in 2000, the canadian general social survey found 7% of men had experienced intimate partner violence from 1994 to 1999, amounting to 549,000 men. another canadian general social survey, in 2005, found 6% of men had experienced intimate partner violence between 2000 and 2005, amounting to 546,000 men. data concerning campus rape, such as from a national institute of mental health and ms. magazine study, has found a 1 in 7 sexual assault rate for men in u.s. colleges. in 2013, the american centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) found that from a sample of 16,000 u.s. adults, 26% of homosexual men, 37.3% of bisexual men, and 29% of heterosexual men had been a victim of intimate partner violence, compared to 43.8% of lesbians, 61.1% of bisexual women and 35% of heterosexual women. cdc director tom frieden stated, "this report suggests that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in this country suffer a heavy toll of sexual violence and stalking committed by an intimate partner." in new zealand, the twenty-one year dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study, published in 1999, reported that of their sample of 1,037 people, 27% of women and 34% of men reported being physically abused by a partner, with 37% of women and 22% of men reporting they had perpetrated intimate partner violence. also in new zealand, a 2009 report by the journal of applied social psychology evaluated samples of university students (35 female, 27 male), general population (34 female, 27 male), and incarcerated participants (15 female, 24 male), and found that 16.7% of the male respondents reported physical abuse (12.9% for students and 15.4% for convicts), while 29.5% reported bidirectional (i.e. both partners commit ipv) violence (14.5% for students and 51.3% for convicts). the 2006 international dating violence study, which investigated intimate partner violence amongst 13,601 students across thirty-two-nations found that "about one-quarter of both male and female students had physically attacked a partner during that year". it reported that 24.4% of males had experienced minor intimate partner violence and 7.6% had experienced "severe assault". in 2012, two swedish studies were released that showed men experienced ipv at rates similar to women—8% per year in one study and 11% per year in the other. in the united kingdom, there was a survey that indicated that 9% of males had experienced some form of partner abuse, which amounts to around 1.4 million men, this includes stalking, physical violence, and sexual assault. a seminal us study found that intimate partner violence victims are often slapped, kicked, punched, grabbed, or choked by their partners. a growing body of international research indicated that men and women experience intimate partner violence in some similar proportions. an example might be a recent survey from canada's national statistical agency that concluded that "equal proportions of men and women reported being victims of spousal violence during the preceding 5 years (4% respectively)." the surveys that were mentioned indicated small proportions of men (less than 20% of victims) will tell the police or a health professional about their victimization. this is perhaps due to well-grounded fears that they will be scorned, ridiculed, or disbelieved by these authorities. a recent research paper by dr. elizabeth bates from the university of cumbria found that the overarching experience of male intimate partner violence victims was that "no one would ever believe me." one victim noted, "i told friends, they laughed while another stated... the police, they laughed." laughter is a common response to male victims of intimate partner violence. gender