Internal and External Barriers to Help Seeking: Voices of Men Who Experienced Abuse in the Intimate Relationships

Abstract

This qualitative study explores internal and external barriers to help seeking among 41 men from four English-speaking countries who self-reported victimization from a female intimate partner. Twelve online focus groups were conducted and themes were identified inductively at a semantic level. Six identified themes represented four internal (blind to the abuse, maintaining relationships, male roles, and excuses) and two external barriers to help seeking (fear of seeking help and nowhere to go). Most participants who avoided seeking help did so due to their own lack of recognition of abuse and ability to assess their risk of harm, attempts to keep the family intact, masculine stereotypes, and excuses for their partner’s abuse. Some men who expressed an interest in seeking help were discouraged from it due to fear for their personal safety, a potential revictimization in the legal system, and the lack of support services available to men. This research suggests that the individuals who are abused in relationships, service providers, and the public at large could benefit from professional training about gender inclusive approaches to intimate partner abuse.

A Qualitative Study of the Male Victims’ Experiences With the Criminal Justice Response to Intimate Partner Abuse in Four English-Speaking Countries

“… Note. The same table appears in other articles published with these data (Dixon et al, in press; Lysova et al, in press). …”

“…For this study, we analyzed responses to Question 4 to provide an in-depth focus on men’s help-seeking that involved a CJS response. The other questions are the focus of other publications (Dixon et al, in press; Douglas et al, 2018; Lysova et al, in press).…”

Help seeking by male victims of domestic violence and abuse: an example of an integrated mixed methods synthesis of systematic review evidence defining methodological terms

“…We are aware because of the length of this process there is new evidence which could be assimilated into this IMMS. Three multi-country studies by the same research team have been published in 2020 [37][38][39].. One of these new studies reenforces the findings of our IMMS on help seeking by male victims and service provision [37]. The second study specifically examines male victims experiences of the criminal justice system and this would add new material to our IMMS [38].…”

Male Victims’ Experiences With and Perceptions of the Criminal Justice Response to Intimate Partner Abuse

“…In some cases, the police showed no empathy or any willingness to listen to the experiences of male victims of IPA (Lysova et al, 2020a(Lysova et al, , 2020bMcCarrick et al, 2016). In a study of 372 male victims of IPA in the Netherlands, less than 32% of the men had approached the police about their victimization, while only 15% of the men registered an official report to the police (Drijber et al, 2013).…”

“…Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men found that 72% of the men claimed that their abusers manipulated the court system to gain sole custody of the children or obtained an unwarranted restraining order against the victim (Hines et al, 2007). Qualitative studies of male victims of IPA found that men were not given a fair hearing in the court despite the evidence of female-perpetrated abuse, that they lost custody of their children more often, and that they faced a much higher burden of proof than female victims (Cook, 2009;Lysova et al, 2020aLysova et al, , 2020b.…”