Abstract
Croatia is a European country with one of the highest prevalence of domestic violence (DV) against women and without a strategy related to male victims. DV against men is a problem often overlooked and associated with numerous stereotypes. This study examines gender differences of DV help-seekers and specificities related to men. Data were derived through structured face to face interviews specifically designed for this study which based on DV literature that included 3296 help-seeking interviewees who personally visited the Counseling Center for Domestic Violence Victims, Zagreb, Croatia. Mental health professionals collected data on gender differences of help-seekers, socio-demographic characteristics, types, and duration of violence, perpetrators, and types of interventions. Important predictors of the gender of DV help-seekers were age, educational level, marital status, and DV types, duration and reporting. Women were more commonly abused by current partners and men by parents. Female victims were more likely to seek help after years of sustaining DV while male victims would seek help after up to 6 months of abuse. Women were more often victims of physical, financial, and multiple-type abuse, and men were more likely to suffer psychological abuse. Men were less likely to report abuse to the police, and misdemeanor or felony courts, but they sought legal counseling. 25% of DV help-seekers were men. Gender differences between victims of DV were in the socio-demographic characteristics, types and duration of violence, and perpetrators. Men underreported DV to institutions but they sought legal counseling. Additional practice and research implications are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acierno, R., Resnick, H. S., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (1997). Health impact of interpersonal violence 1: Prevalence rates, case identification, and risk factors for sexual assault, physical assault, and domestic violence in men and women. Behavioral Medicine, 23(2), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289709596729.
Addis, M. E., & Mahalik, J. R. (2003). Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking. American Psychologist, 58(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.5.
Alejo, K. (2014). Long-term physical and mental health effects of domestic violence. Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science, 2(5), 80–98.
Allen-Collinson, J. (2009). A marked man: Female-perpetrated intimate partner abuse. International Journal of Men's Health, 8(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.3149/jmh.0801.22.
Archer, J. (2002). Sex differences in physically aggressive acts between heterosexual partners: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7(4), 313–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(01)00061-1.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Defining the data challenge for family, domestic and sexual violence. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au.
Barber, C. F. (2008). Domestic violence against men. Nursing Standard, 22(51), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns2008.08.22.51.35.c6644.
Barnett, O. W., Miller-Perrin, C. L., & Perrin, R. D. (2011). Family violence across the lifespan: An introduction (Third ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
Barrett, B. J., Peirone, A., & Cheung, C. H. (2019). Help seeking experiences of survivors of intimate partner violence in Canada: The role of gender, violence severity, and social belonging. Journal of Family Violence, 35(1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-019-00086-8.
Black, M. C. (2011). Intimate partner violence and adverse health consequences. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5(5), 428–439. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827611410265.
Breiding, M. J., Basile, K. C., Smith, S. G., Black, M. C., & Mahendra, R. R. (2015). Intimate Partner Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements, Version 2.0. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Breiding, M. J., Chen, J., & Black, M. C. (2014). Intimate partner violence in the United States -- 2010. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Bolling, K., Grant, C., & Donovan, J. L. (2009). 2008–2009 British crime survey (England and Wales): Technical report (Vol. I). London, UK: Home Office.
Buzawa, E. S., & Buzawa, C. G. (2017a). Introduction: The evolution of efforts to combat domestic violence. In E. Buzawa & C. Buzawa (Eds.), Global responses to domestic violence (pp. 1–19). New York, NY: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56721-1_1.
Buzawa, E. S., & Buzawa, C. G. (2017b). The evolution of the response to domestic violence in the United States. In E. Buzawa & C. Buzawa (Eds.), Global responses to domestic violence (pp. 61–86). New York, NY: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56721-1_4.
Carmo, R., Grams, A., & Magalhães, T. (2011). Men as victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 18(8), 355–359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2011.07.006.
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., Morgan, C., Rüsch, N., Brown, J. S. L., & Thornicroft, G. (2014). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological Medicine, 45(1), 11–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291714000129.
Coker, A. L, Davis, K. E., Arias, I., Desai, S., Sanderson, M., Brandt, H. M., & Smith, P. H. (2002). Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23(4), 260–268. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(02)00514-7.
Costa, D., Soares, J., Lindert, J., Hatzidimitriadou, E., Sundin, Ö., Toth, O., Ioannidi-Kapolo, E., & Barros, H. (2015). Intimate partner violence: A study in men and women from six European countries. International Journal of Public Health, 60(4), 467–478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0663-1.
Crime Survey for England and Wales. (2019). Domestic abuse: Findings from the crime survey for England and Wales: Year ending march 2018. UK: Office of National Statistics Retrieved from https://www.ons.gov.uk/.
Croatian Association of Social Pedagogues. (2005). Etički kodeks socijalnih pedagoga [in Croatian], 2005. Retrieved from https://husp.hr/docs/HUSP_Eticki_kodeks_socijalnih_pedagoga.pdf.
Croatian Bar Association. (1995). Attorney's Code of Ethics, 1995. Retrieved from http://www.hok-cba.hr/en/attorneys-code-ethics.
Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2012). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/censustabshtm.htm
Croatian Chamber of Social Workers. (2015). Etički kodeks socijalnih radnica i socijalnih radnika u djelatnosti socijalnog rada [in Croatian]. Retrieved from http://www.hksr.hr/.
Croatian Psychological Chamber. (2004). Kodeks etike psihološke djelatnosti [in Croatian], Retreived from http://www.psiholoska-komora.hr/static/documents/dok_kodeks_etike.pdf.
Desmarais, S. L., Reeves, K. A., Nicholls, T. L., Telford, R. P., & Fiebert, M. S. (2012). Prevalence of physical violence in intimate relationships, part 1: Rates of male and female victimization. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 140–169. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.140.
Douglas, E. M., & Hines, D. A. (2011). The Helpseeking experiences of men who sustain intimate partner violence: An overlooked population and implications for practice. Journal of Family Violence, 26(6), 473–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-011-9382-4.
Drijber, B. C., Reijnders, U. J. L., & Ceelen, M. (2013). Male victims of domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 28, 173–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9482-9.
Dutton, D. G., & White, K. R. (2013). Male victims of domestic violence. New Male Studies: An International Journal, 2(1), 5–17.
Elliott, D. M., Mok, D. S., & Briere, J. (2004). Adult sexual assault: Prevalence, symptomatology, and sex differences in the general population. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17(3), 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jots.0000029263.11104.23.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (2020). A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 - Document 52020DC0152. European Commission. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0152&from=EN
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2016). Violence against women survey. Retrieved from http://fra.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/data-andmaps/survey-data-explorer-violence-against-women-survey
Evans, M. A., & Feder, G. S. (2016). Help-seeking amongst women survivors of domestic violence: A qualitative study of pathways towards formal and informal support. Health Expectations, 19(1), 62–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12330.
Fábián, K. (2017). The politics of domestic violence in Central Europe: International and domestic contestations. In E. Buzawa & C. Buzawa (Eds.), Global responses to domestic violence (pp. 125–149). New York, NY: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56721-1_7.
Felson, R. B., Messner, S. F., Hoskin, A. W., & Deane, G. (2002). Reasons for reporting and not reporting domestic violence to the police*. Criminology, 40(3), 617–648. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2002.tb00968.x.
Geles, R. (1998). Family violence. In M. Tonry (Ed.), The handbook of crime and punishment (pp. 178–207). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gottzén, L. (2016). Displaying shame: Men’s violence towards women in a culture of gender equality. In M. Hydén, D. Gadd, & A. Wade (Eds.), Response based approaches to the study of interpersonal violence. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Haines, E. L., Deaux, K., & Lofaro, N. (2016). The times they are a-changing … or are they not? A comparison of gender stereotypes, 1983–2014. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(3), 353–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316634081.
Hines, D. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2010). A closer look at men who sustain intimate terrorism by women. Partner Abuse, 1(3), 286–313. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.1.3.286.
Hines, D. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2011). The reported availability of U.S. domestic violence services to victims who vary by age, sexual orientation, and gender. Partner Abuse, 2(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.2.1.3.
Hines, D. A., & Malley-Morrison, K. (2001). Psychological effects of partner abuse against men: A neglected research area. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 2(2), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.2.2.75.
Home Office. (2013). Information for local areas on the change to the definition of domestic violence. London, UK: Home Office.
Hoult, J. (2006). The evidentiary admissibility of parental alienation syndrome: Science, law, and policy. Children’s Legal Rights Journal, 26, 1–6.
Houry, D., Rhodes, K., Kemball, R. S., Click, L., Cerulli, C., McNutt, L. A., & Kaslow, N. J. (2008). Differences in female and male victims and perpetrators of partner violence with respect to WEB scores. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(8), 1041–1055. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507313969.
Howard, L. M., Trevillion, K., & Agnew-Davies, D. (2010). Domestic violence and mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 22(5), 525–534. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2010.512283.
Huntley, A. L., Potter, L., Williamson, E., Malpass, A., Szilassy, E., & Feder, G. (2019). Help-seeking by male victims of domestic violence and abuse (DVA): A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis. BMJ Open, 9(6), e021960. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021960.
Jackson, N. A. (Ed.). (2007). The encyclopedia of domestic violence. Routledge, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Johnson, M. P. (2006). Conflict and control: Gender symmetry and asymmetry in domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 12(11), 1003–1018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801206293328.
Kennair, N., & Mellor, D. (2007). Parent abuse: A review. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 38(3), 203–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-007-0061-x.
Kershaw, C., Budd, T., Kinshott, G., Mattinson, J., Mayhew, P., & Myhill, A. (2000). The 2000 British crime survey: England and Wales. London, UK: Home Office.
Khalifeh, H., & Dean, K. (2010). Gender and violence against people with severe mental illness. International Review of Psychiatry, 22(5), 535–546. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2010.506185.
Kimberg, L. S. (2008). Addressing intimate partner violence with male patients: A review and introduction of pilot guidelines. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(12), 2071–2078. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0755-1.
Kurst-Swanger, K., & Petcosky, J. L. (2003). Violence in the home: Multidisciplinary perspectives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Locke, L. M., & Richman, C. L. (1999). Attitudes toward domestic violence: Race and gender issues. Sex Roles, 40, 227–247. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018898921560.
Machado, A., Hines, D., & Matos, M. (2016a). Help-seeking and needs of male victims of intimate partner violence in Portugal. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 17(3), 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000013.
Machado, A., Santos, A., Graham-Kevan, N., & Matos, M. (2016b). Exploring help seeking experiences of male victims of female perpetrators of IPV. Journal of Family Violence, 32(5), 513–523. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9853-8.
Machado, A., Hines, D., & Matos, M. (2018). Characteristics of intimate partner violence victimization experienced by a sample of Portuguese men. Violence and Victims, 33(1), 157–175. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-16-00095.
McCarrick, J., Davis-McCabe, C., & Hirst-Winthrop, S. (2015). Men’s experiences of the criminal justice system following female perpetrated intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 31(2), 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9749-z.
McKeown, A., & Harvey, E. (2018). Violent women: Treatment approaches and psychodynamic considerations. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 4(2), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-08-2017-0025.
National Research Council. (1996). Understanding violence against women. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Neves, S., Machado, M., Machado, F., & Pinheiro, F. (2019). Attitudes toward intimate partner violence and intimate partner acceptance-rejection among cape Verdean students living in Portugal. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 35, e3549. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e3549.
Office for Human Rights of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. (2009). Istraživanje o stavovima i razini svijesti o diskriminaciji i pojavnim oblicima diskriminacije [in Croatian]. Zagreb: Office for Human Rights of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Retrieved from https://ljudskaprava.gov.hr/suzbijanje-diskriminacije/571
Phelan, M. B., Hamberger, L. K., Guse, C. E., Edwards, S., Walczak, S., & Zosel, A. (2005). Domestic violence among male and female patients seeking emergency medical services. Violence and Victims, 20(2), 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1891/088667005780905623.
Polychronopoulou, Μ., & Douzenis, A. (2016). The psychosocial repercussions of domestic violence in battered women. Psychiatriki, 27(2), 148–149. https://doi.org/10.22365/jpsych.2016.272.148.
Prosman, G. J., Lo Fo Wong, S. H., & Lagro-Janssen, A. L. (2014). Why abused women do not seek professional help: A qualitative study. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 28(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12025.
R Core Team. (2017). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from https://www.r-project.org.
Studio Team, R. (2017). RStudio: Integrated development for R (version 1.0.136). Boston, MA: RStudio Retrieved from https://www.rstudio.com.
Rakovec-Felser, Z. (2014). Domestic violence and abuse in intimate relationship from public health perspective. Health Psychology Research, 2(3), 1821. https://doi.org/10.4081/hpr.2014.1821.
Roberts, A. R. (Ed.). (1998). Battered women and their families (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer International Publishing.
Sardinha, L., & Nájera Catalán, H. E. (2018). Attitudes towards domestic violence in 49 low- and middle-income countries: A gendered analysis of prevalence and country-level correlates. PLoS One, 13(10), e0206101. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206101.
Sharma, K., Vatsa, M., Kalaivani, M., & Bhardwaj, D. (2019). Mental health effects of domestic violence against women in Delhi: A community-based study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(7), 2522–2527. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_427_19.
Snyder, H. N., & McCurley, C. (2008). Domestic assaults by juvenile offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Stemple, L., & Meyer, I. H. (2014). The sexual victimization of men in America: New data challenge old assumptions. American Journal of Public Health, 104(6), e19–e26. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2014.301946.
Stover, C. S., Poole, G., & Marans, S. (2009). The domestic violence home-visit intervention: Impact on police-reported incidents of repeat violence over 12 months. Violence and Victims, 24(5), 591–606. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.24.5.591.
Swan, S. C., Gambone, L. J., Caldwell, J. E., Sullivan, T. P., & Snow, D. L. (2008). A review of research on women’s use of violence with male intimate partners. Violence and Victims, 23(3), 301–314. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.23.3.301.
Thompson, R. S., Bonomi, A. E., Anderson, M., Reid, R. J., Dimer, J. A., Carrell, D., & Rivara, F. P. (2006). Intimate partner violence: Prevalence, types, and chronicity in adult women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(6), 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2006.01.016.
Trevillion, K., Corker, E., Capron, L. E., & Oram, S. (2016). Improving mental health service responses to domestic violence and abuse. International Review of Psychiatry (Abingdon, England), 28(5), 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2016.1201053.
Triantafyllou, D., Wang, C., & North, C. S. (2016). Correlates of duration of intimate partner violence among women seeking services at a domestic violence support center. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(6), 1127–1138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516647522.
Truman, J. L., & Morgan, R. E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003–2012. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Walby, S., & Myhill, A. (2001). Assessing and managing the risk of domestic violence. In J. Taylor-Browne (Ed.), What works in reducing domestic violence? (pp. 309–335). London: Whiting and Birch.
Walby, S., Towers, J., & Francis, B. (2016). Is violent crime increasing or decreasing? A new methodology to measure repeat attacks making visible the significance of gender and domestic relations. The British Journal of Criminology, 56(6), 1203–1234. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azv131.
Walsh, J. A., & Krienert, J. L. (2009). A decade of child-initiated family violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(9), 1450–1477. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260508323661.
Walker, L. E. (1989). Terrifying love: Why battered women kill and how society responds. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
van Wijk, N. P., & de Bruijn, J. G. (2012). Risk factors for domestic violence in curacao. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(15), 3032–3053. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512441074.
Weiss, K. (2010). Too ashamed to report: Deconstructing the shame of sexual victimization. Feminist Criminology, 5(3), 286–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085110376343.
Whitaker, D. J., Haileyesus, T., Swahn, M., & Saltzman, L. S. (2007). Differences in frequency of violence and reported injury between relationships with reciprocal and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence. American Journal of Public Health, 97(5), 941–947. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2005.079020.
Word Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneve: WHO Press.
World Health Organization. (2017). Violence against women. Geneve: WHO Press.
World Medical Association. (2000). World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects [in Croatian]. Acta Stomatologica Croatica, 34(3), 341–342.
Yick, A. G., & Oomen-Earky, J. (2009). Using the PEN-3 model to plan culturally competent domestic violence intervention and prevention services in Chinese America and immigrant communities. Health Education, 109(2), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1108/09654280910936585.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peraica, T., Kovačić Petrović, Z., Barić, Ž. et al. Gender Differences among Domestic Violence Help-Seekers: Socio-Demographic Characteristics, Types and Duration of Violence, Perpetrators, and Interventions. J Fam Viol 36, 429–442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00207-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00207-8