engleski

Gender and domestic violence

Introduction: Recent research has shown that men can also be victims of domestic violence (DV) (1, 2). Aim: To investigate differences between male and female victims of DV with respect to soci- odemographic data, violence-related data, and reporting of violence. Subjects and methods: Between January 1, 2011 and May 31, 2015, 3296 persons visited the Counseling Center for Victims of Domestic Violence to seek help. Among them, 794 were men and 2370 were women (mean age: 40.7±11.5 years). Sociodemographic data (gender, age, education level, marital and employment status), violence-related data (perpetrator, dura-tion, type), reportingrelated data (notification of police and/or social care services, misde-meanor or criminal charges) and types of intervention were recorded. Results: There was no significant difference in age between men and women who visited the Center (p=0.130). Women were more often married, whereas men were more often divorced or lived alone (p=0.000). Education level was higher in men than in women (p=0.018). The duration of violence reported by women was multiannual, whereas the duration of violence reported by men lasted up to 6 months (p=0.001). Spouses and partners were significantly more often the perpetrators of domestic violence against women, whereas parents were more often the perpetrators of domestic violence against men. According to the type of domestic violence, men were more often psychologically and sexually abused, whereas women were more often physically and economically abused. Men more often reported violence to the po-lice, and women more often reported violence to a criminal court (p=0.025) or misdemeanor court. Women more often sought help in person, whereas men sought help by a phone or e- mail. Conclusion: Approximately 25% of the victims of DV were men. This finding shows that DV is not only a “women’s issue”.

gender, male, female, domestic violence

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