Abused Men: The Hidden Side Of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a serious problem in society and there are misconceptions that men are seen as the abusers and cannot be the abused. There are stereotypes that women are seen as the gentle gender, so they cannot be violent. Most domestic violence cases involve women being the victims, and it leaves men often overlooked as a victim, so they are not taken as serious as if a woman was the victims. Male victims are more likely not to report their abuse because of societal norms that men are seen as strong and can take care of themselves. All these misconceptions that men cannot be victims are problems men face, from gender stereotypes, to not having domestic violence services catered towards men, and societal norms that men can take care of

Women have always been known as the weaker gender and are protected more often when it comes to violence because of their lack of size and strength, but their difference in size does not mean they are harmless, it means they have to do whatever it takes to inflict pain in any way possible. Women are motivated to use violence in ways of intimidation, anger, and punishing misbehavior by their partner (Straus 338). In the book Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence, Cook notes “’although there were fewer female assaulters than males, women would appear more dangerous than men when they actually become offenders’” (20). The patterns of violence used by women tend to be to throw something or to use a weapon (Cook 22). Women are more protected in domestic violence and when they initiate violence it is most likely because it was self-defense but men are not allowed to use self-defense because the man defending himself is deemed the attacker, even if they were not the ones to initiate violence. Even when the police are involved and they know the victim is a man, they are always going to protect the women first and assume the man was the assaulter. Men are ultimately stuck between a rock and a hard