“…Men have also stressed that they feel inclined to stay with abusive partners to remain with and protect their children (Bates, 2019c), as, again, there is little provision available which allows them to remove both themselves and their children away from abusive settings (Mankind Initiative, 2020). Studies also demonstrate that stigma is experienced by men reporting same-sex DVA (Calton, Cattaneo, & Gebhard, 2016;Laskey, Bates, & Taylor, 2019), which is represented in their negative experiences of help-seeking (Donovan & Barnes, 2019), including reporting to law enforcement (Finneran & Stephenson, 2013), and the difficulty they face in accessing services (Stiles-Shields & Carroll, 2015). Taken together, such studies explain why men report that being recognised as victims is of the utmost importance to them in their help-seeking EXPERIENCES SUPPORTING MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE 7 journeys, and is the foundation on which all other help, support and access can be achieved (Wallace, Wallace, Kenkre, Brayford, & Borja, 2019a).…”