Leaving an abusive relationship is a difficult process for all survivors. For men, this can be particularly challenging due to the current knowledge and support for survivors being heavily influenced by a feminist discourse, despite a growing body of research that examines men's experiences. This raises concerns about how men make sense of abuse, where they seek support for injuries and psychological distress, and what services are available to them to help them move on from abuse. Narrative interviews with 12 midlife and older men (aged 45-65 years) who had experienced intimate partner violence from a female were conducted with the aim to explore their journey of leaving abuse. The men's stories revealed themes of how they made sense of what was happening to them (legitimacy as a survivor and self-help), their experiences of service readiness to respond to male victimization (discrimination from police, legal system set up to support women, and service readiness for males), and how men can leave abuse (post-separation abuse and support from friends and family). Implications of the findings demonstrate that many services are still not equipped to support male survivors. The men in our study found it difficult to comprehend their experience as abuse and this is negatively reinforced by ineffective services and stereotypical beliefs about abuse. However, informal support through friends and family is a powerful tool in supporting men to leave abusive relationships. More work is needed to increase awareness of male survivors and ensure that services, including legal systems, are inclusive.

中文翻译：

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摆脱虐待的过程：中年和老年男性遭受女性亲密伴侣暴力的经历。

对于所有幸存者来说，离开虐待关系都是一个艰难的过程。对于男性来说，这可能尤其具有挑战性，因为尽管越来越多的研究调查男性的经历，但目前对幸存者的认识和支持深受女权主义话语的影响。这引发了人们对男性如何理解虐待、他们在哪里寻求伤害和心理困扰的支持以及他们可以获得哪些服务来帮助他们摆脱虐待的担忧。对 12 名曾遭受过女性亲密伴侣暴力的中年和老年男性（年龄 45-65 岁）进行叙述性采访，旨在探索他们摆脱虐待的旅程。这些男人的故事揭示了他们如何理解发生在自己身上的事情的主题（作为幸存者的合法性和自助），他们为应对男性受害而做好服务准备的经历（警察的歧视，为支持妇女而建立的法律制度，以及男性的服务准备情况），以及男性如何摆脱虐待（分居后的虐待以及来自朋友和家人的支持）。研究结果表明，许多服务仍然不具备支持男性幸存者的能力。我们研究中的男性发现很难理解他们的虐待经历，而无效的服务和对虐待的刻板印象又进一步强化了这一点。然而，通过朋友和家人提供的非正式支持是支持男性摆脱虐待关系的有力工具。需要开展更多工作来提高男性幸存者的认识，并确保包括法律制度在内的服务具有包容性。