Police ‘less likely to believe men abused by wives’

MALE victims of psychological abuse may be ignored by police because of an ‘unconscious bias’, campaigners say.

Female victims are more likely to be believed, says the ManKind Initiative, a helpline for male victims of domestic abuse.

Figures show that since a law against controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship was introduced, it was overwhelmingly used to prosecute men. From December 2015 to March 2017, there were 4,246 allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour recorded, according to the Office for National Statistics.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that 272 people were charged with the offence. Of those, four were women.

Mark Brooks, a spokesman for ManKind Initiative, said: ‘The question is whether there is an unconscious bias in police and prosecutors when they apply or think about the coercive control legislation and if their biases are stopping them applying the law to male victims.

‘As we know, the perpetrators of controlling and coercive behaviour are incredibly manipulative individuals and they almost always make a counter allegation.’

In April this year, Jordan Worth, 22, became the first woman to be convicted of the new offence. She inflicted vicious assaults and starved her partner Alex Skeel, also 22, but also dictated what he could wear and who he spoke to.

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said male victims are less likely to call police.

But she added: ‘I am sure that women are equally capable of offending in that way and there are a number of horrific cases. Men are victims of domestic abuse and they deserve support.’