Help-Seeking of Male Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse: An Exploratory Study

Background and Purpose: Intimate partner abuse (IPA) affects people of all ages and both genders. However, IPA against men has been disproportionately understudied. In the United States, research shows that the abused men generally tend not to seek help or report the incidents of abuse (Fontes, 1998; Hines & Malley-Morrison, 2001; RADAR, 2008; Wolf, 2001). According to the National Violence Against Women Survey in the U.S. (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000), approximately 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by their intimate partners annually. Despite the alarming statistics, little is known about the needs of IPA male victims. This study aimed to identify the help-seeking preference of IPA male victims and explore their unique experience in partner abuse and in the help-seeking process.

Methods: This exploratory study included a nationwide convenience and snowball sample of 68 male victims, who are aged 18 or above, living in the US and have experienced abuse in an intimate relationships. Subjects were invited to participate in an anonymous online self-administered survey which contained questions to measure help-seeking behaviors, demographics, and experience in partner abuse and the help-seeking process. Participants were identified and recruited through an email sent to 1300 organizations and service providers with a focus on IPA or family relations in the US. Quantitative data are analyzed by descriptive statistics, and themes derived from qualitative findings were used to understand abused men's unique experience in their help-seeking process.

Results: Demographic characteristics are provided. In terms of the abusive relationships, 29.4% are current, 79.4% were in the past, and 8.8% are both current and in the past. About 82% of the respondents had experienced more than one type of abuse. In the context of help-seeking, three-fourths of the respondents indicated that they had used social service, in which counseling service (69.1%), legal service (54.4%) and medical/hospital services (36.8%) were most popular, In terms of seeking different sources for support and help, the majority of the respondents preferred seeking advice from friends (76.5%), family and internet (both 67.6%) to consulting formal services including mental health professionals (61.8%), police (58.8%) and medical doctors (38.2%). Qualitative analysis of the respondents' narratives revealed the experience mostly with physical, emotional and financial abuse by their partner, feeling of helplessness, loss of trust towards law enforcement and legal system. In the process of help-seeking, numerous barriers were identified, including bias and discrimination against males, shame and embarrassment, costly professional services, while facilitators included using internet, family and friends.

Conclusions and Implications: Victims of partner abuse, regardless of their gender, need help and treatment. The study of help-seeking among IPA male victims is vital to developing effective prevention and gender sensitive intervention strategies to address the unmet needs of the abused men. Due to contextual barriers experienced by male victims who are reluctant to seek help, outreach efforts, public education, design of gender focused services, training for service providers and interdisciplinary collaborations are needed. Lastly, more gender research on this neglected group is strongly encouraged.