Improving how the world understands,
recognizes, and supports survivors of
Intimate Partner Violence against Men (IPVM)
In the first population-based study of domestic violence or intimate partner violence (IPV) in the U.S. in 1975, IPV was a concern for both women and men. Those results surprised many. In 1985 the study was duplicated, and the results were similar. In that study 11.6% of men used IPV against women and 3.4% used severe physical violence, while 12.4% of women used IPV against men and 4.8% used severe physical violence.
Over the next 40 years, the results in numerous studies have not shifted. Men are equally impacted by IPV. Yet, the face of domestic violence is that of a battered woman. Anchored in the minds of first responders, counselors, clinicians, hotline operators, nonprofit organizations, judges, legal system representatives, policymakers, and the general public, men have remained the perpetrators, not the victims nor the survivors. That systemic bias and silent suffering must change.
Intimate Partner Violence Against Men
Invisible epidemic. Systemic bias. Silent suffering.
What makes Intimate Partner Violence Against Men an invisible epidemic?
46% of victims of intimate partner violence are men
800,000 men are abused by an intimate partner each year
1 in 4 men are physically abused
1 in 20 men are killed by an intimate partner
48.8% of men have experienced coercive control (monitored, insulted, bullied, isolated, manipulated, deprived liberties, limited financially, and/or threatened)
Women are 7 to 14 times more likely to report domestic violence than men.
Fewer than 20% of men tell police or health professionals