Violence against men ‘is ignored’
BRITAIN does not take domestic violence against men seriously, campaigners allege.
And they say “truly horrifying” research has exposed a lack of refuges and too few schemes to tackle male suicide.
Fathers for Justice (F4J) contacted more than 400 councils. Just five so far have reported providing accommodation for vulnerable men.
The findings are published ahead of Tuesday’s International Men’s Day, with F4J calling for the Government to reverse a “rigged system” that “only sees men as perpetrators rather than as potential victims”.
They have also called for a Minister for Men.
F4J founder, Matt O’connor, said: “We submitted freedom of information requests to over 400 councils across the UK to try and build a map of the support there is for vulnerable men. Nearly 300 have responded so far and what we found is truly horrifying.”
He said the system “ignores and marginalises the suffering of men, only ever painting them as the aggressors”.
Last year the male suicide rate was 17.2 deaths per 100,000 in the UK. The rate for women was 5.4.
Mr O’connor said: “Without a complete overhaul of how the state views, interacts with and supports men, I fear the appalling legacy of lives destroyed and ingrained bias will continue. This is why we renew our calls to whoever wins the general election to appoint a Minister for Men.”
Philip Davies, Conservative candidate for Shipley, said both sexes suffered from a lack of refuges.
He said: “What I want is for there to be adequate provision and support for all victims of domestic violence.”
About two million people aged 16 to 59 suffered domestic abuse in the 12 months to March 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Women were twice as likely to suffer than men – 7.9 per cent compared with 4.2 per cent – equating to 1.3 million women and 695,000 men.