Scottish Government

Domestic Abuse Against Men in Scotland

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Aims

The main aims of this report are to:

• Estimate the prevalence of domestic abuse perpetrated against men in Scotland;
• Gauge the nature, frequency, and seriousness of this abuse;
• Document and examine the perspectives of those men who had been abused, and;
• Assess the adequacy of levels of service provision for men who have experienced domestic abuse in Scotland.

The report is sensitive to the various definitions of 'domestic abuse' adopted by the Scottish Executive, Scottish Crime Survey, statutory and non-statutory service providers for abused men in Scotland, and the perspectives of abused men themselves, although it focuses predominantly on victimisation by partners and ex-partners.

This report begins with an overview of the literature on domestic abuse against men, setting out the controversies that have imbued research in the UK, North America and Australasia on this topic. The report endeavours to make sense of the discovery of relatively high rates of domestic abuse against men in national crime surveys, especially the Scottish Crime Survey 2000. The report proceeds to provide:

• An analysis of the contrasting pictures of domestic abuse evident in the statistical data derived from Scottish Police records for 1999 and 2000 and the findings of the Scottish Crime Survey 2000;
• An outline of the characteristics of male victims in relation to both male non-victims and female victims of domestic abuse;
• In-depth accounts of the abuse experienced by a sample of the men identified as victims of 'domestic violence' in the Scottish Crime Survey 2000;
• A summary of the arguments for and against specialist service provision for abused men in Scotland.

Research Design

There were four key components to the research design:

• A statistical analysis of incident data recorded by the Scottish Police with regards to variations in police responses to domestic abuse, and the demographic characteristics of both victims and perpetrators;
• A supplementary statistical analysis of the Scottish Crime Survey 2000 data on men's victimisation;
• In-depth narrative interviews with 30 of the 90 men identified as 'victims of domestic abuse' in the Scottish Crime Survey 2000;
• Telephone interviews with service providers who deal with victims of domestic abuse.

Main Findings

The smaller proportions of male victims of domestic abuse identified in the statistics recorded by the police (relative to the Scottish Crime Survey 2000) are largely explicable in terms of two factors:

1. Respondents misunderstanding the focus of the self-completion component of the Scottish Crime Survey. Over one in four male respondents appear to have misinterpreted the 'domestic abuse' questions used in the self-completion questionnaire.
2. The nature of male victims' experiences and their patterns of reporting to the police. Relative to female victims of domestic abuse, male victims in general were less likely to have been repeat victims of assault, to have been seriously injured, and to report feeling fearful in their own homes. These factors, coupled with the embarrassment many male victims felt, helped explain the infrequency with which male victims of domestic abuse came to the attention of the Scottish Police. Some of the male victims of domestic abuse identified in the Scottish Crime Survey 2000 were also assailants and therefore did not wish to draw themselves to the attention of the police.

The assailant was male in six per cent of cases of domestic abuse against men reported to the Scottish Police in 1999 and 2000. There is presently no independent data source that can be used to verify whether men who live with male partners are at a greater or smaller risk of abuse than men who live with female partners.

In 2000 those who perpetrated domestic abuse against men were slightly less likely to have had their acts deemed criminal by the Scottish Police than those who perpetrated domestic abuse against women. Perpetrators against men were also slightly less likely to be referred to the Procurator Fiscal. These aggregate differences in police action were partly a consequence of the smaller proportion of ex-partners amongst those who perpetrated abuses against men. The findings of the Scottish Crime Survey 2000 suggest that gender differences in the nature and severity of abuse experienced by men and women were also partly responsible for these differences in police action.

There was some limited evidence to suggest that the police had been referring assailants in same-sex couples to the Procurator Fiscal less frequently than assailants in opposite sex couples. Those men who abused male partners or ex-partners were more likely to have had no further action taken against them by the police than those men who abused female partners or ex-partners.

The Scottish Crime Survey 2000 suggests that in 1999 male victims of domestic abuse tended to be poorer than men who were not victims, although this financial disadvantage fell predominantly on those male victims who were divorced or separated. Male victims of domestic abuse tended to report better health and higher incomes than female victims. Male victims were also less likely to have lived in rented accommodation than female victims.

It is impossible to do justice to the diversity of male victims' experiences in this short summary. Nonetheless, the qualitative research upon which this report is based shows that domestic abuse against men can take life-threatening forms and can have lasting effects. Some of the male victims interviewed experienced a range of abuses from their partners. This abuse took emotional, financial, and physical forms. However, many of the male victims in our sample described their partners' abuses as relatively rare and inconsequential in the longer term. Few men cited abuse as reasons for having left their partners. Abuse frequently occurred when relationships were in crisis or 'breaking up', and/or when access to children had to be negotiated between partners who were living apart.

Conclusions

Neither abused men's nor service providers' responses suggested that there is presently a need for an agency whose specific remit is to support male victims of domestic abuse in Scotland. Neither does there currently appear to be a need for refuges for abused men, although some male victims would benefit from support and advice regarding housing and welfare. Men who are trying to separate from abusive partners may benefit from the provision of alternative accommodation (for themselves and their children) and better legal and financial support. However, there is some evidence to indicate that abused men are not making full use of the pre-existing support services available to them, perhaps suggesting that some service providers need to publicise their remit more widely.