A blog has been posted by Bristol University staff Dr Gene Feder and Dr Lucy Potter discussing why gender cannot be ignored when discussing domestic violence. They point out that more women than men suffer repeated and systematic violence, assaults and hospital admission based on population surveys rather than crime statistics or people accessing services.
They additionally discuss the results from their GP study of 1,368 men attending GP surgeries in south-west England, where 23% of men had experienced domestic abuse. They found that fewer men understood and acknowledge that they were experiencing domestic violence compared to women. This finding is seen as crucial in training health care and other professionals to enquire and respond appropriately to the domestic violence experienced by men.
The blog goes onto discuss designing programmes for male and female survivors differently. They said ‘this is to support men (and their children), with the understanding that some of their experiences and needs may be similar to women survivors, but others may be different.’
They conclude by pointing out ‘to ignore the impact of gender on domestic violence does a disservice to people of any gender. Instead, the aim must be to strive for gender-informed prevention and responses to domestic violence.’
To access and read the blog please click here