Battered men need their own shelters

Apr 12 2009 by Phil Doherty, Sunday Sun

She said: “Men do need provision as one in six males will be victims and it’s very important that all victims are catered for.

“But it’s important when women come to our refuge they feel safe and we cannot do that in a mixed shelter.

“When we take calls from male victims we forward them on to male groups who have expertise in this area.”

Mark Brooks, chairman of the Mankind Initiative, a charity that specialises in helping male victims, said that in the past councils had blatantly ignored male victims despite the British Crime Survey showing 3.2 million men will suffer during their lifetime.

He said: “Rather than shoehorning Women’s Aid into providing services for men, local authorities should contact specialist charities like The Mankind Initiative or Broken Rainbow who can help with building local services.

“And rather than taking away funding for women, additional funding should be found to help men.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Government takes the issue of male victims seriously, believing that any victim suffering persistent abuse should be treated equally.

“We expect all the victims of domestic violence to be taken seriously by all services, regardless of gender, particularly criminal justice agencies.

“We have commissioned research to look at patterns of male victims of domestic violence.

“We hope this will enable us to identify gaps and pull work together to ensure that the response needs for male victims are met.”

A Government Equalities Office spokesperson said: “All domestic violence is totally unacceptable, and all victims – regardless of gender – should be able to access help.

“The Gender Equality Duty does not require refuge services to be gender neutral – this interpretation of the law is wrong – so it is up to domestic violence charities whether they provide specialist services just for women or men, which is often important to the survivors of abuse.”