Male domestic abuse shock

Domestic abuse charity the ManKind Initiative described the numbers as “shocking but welcome”, saying they show that men feel increasingly able to come forward and report abuse.

A freedom of information request submitted by the charity showed that 9,084 men reported being a victim of domestic abuse to Greater Manchester Police in 2017.

In total, 39,108 domestic abuse cases were reported to police, with men the victims in 25 per cent of those in which gender was recorded. No gender data was provided for seven per cent of cases.

It is four times the number of men who reported as victims of domestic abuse in 2012, when they represented 17 per cent of cases. Over the same period, the total number of domestic abuse reports increased by 192 per cent.

While domestic abuse can be violent, the definition can include any controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour. It includes psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional abuse.

Across the 41 of England and Wales’s 43 police forces who provided numbers for 2017, 159,000 men reported being victims of domestic abuse – one in every four cases.

Mark Brooks, chairman of the ManKind Initiative, said: “These figures are both shocking yet welcome. They show the level of domestic abuse against men and the growing confidence they have in coming forward.

“Friends, family and work colleagues are also playing a key part in supporting them and many police forces are actively encouraging men to report.

“These figures should act as a spur for even more men to reach out, as many feel they are the only man in the world this has ever happened to and they suffer in silence behind their front door.

“They now know they are not alone.”

The charity believes that needs to be more done to fund and support domestic abuse services, for both male and female victims. But with just 20 of the country’s 3,600 refuge beds reserved for men – 0.8 per cent of the total stock – they feel assumptions about domestic abuse are still to be broken down.