Violence Against Men
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Violence against men comprises violent acts that are disproportionately (or exclusively) committed against
men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
or boys.
Violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...
is the opposite category, where acts of violence are targeted against the female
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
.


Perceptions and aspects

Studies of social attitudes show violence is perceived as more or less serious depending on the gender of victim and perpetrator. People are less likely to report a man hitting another man to the police than a man hitting a woman. A study in 2023 found that people—especially women—are less likely to accept
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...
than violence against men. Male law enforcement officers show a greater reluctance to file charges or reports when a man is the victim of domestic violence. The use of stereotypes by law enforcement is a recognised issue, and international law scholar Solange Mouthaan argues that, in conflict scenarios,
sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
against men has been ignored in favor of a focus on sexual violence against women and children.
Stigmatization Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...
and socially constructed
gender stereotypes A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...
are barriers to men seeking help following violent victimization. Stereotypes can make it difficult for victims to conceptualize and verbalize what happened, and contribute significantly to underreporting and poor responses toward survivors by relevant authorities. Men often fear that they will be dismissed, accused of being the perpetrator, or ridiculed if they seek help following intimate partner violence. These fears are often confirmed by men who nonetheless seek help. Due to perceptions of
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
as a women's issue, services designed to help victims are often not equipped to help men. Men are commonly less fearful of violent crime than women despite the fact that men are at much higher risk of being victims of violent crime than women. This phenomenon appears to be a
paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...
and is termed by researchers as the "fear of crime gender paradox".


Violence against LGBT+ men

Male homosexuality has been persecuted, often violently, throughout history. Termed "
sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...
" during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
and the
early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
, men found guilty of "sodomy" were often subjected to
capital punishment for homosexuality Capital punishment as a criminal punishment for homosexuality has been implemented by a number of countries in their history. It is a legal punishment in several countries and regions, all of which have Islamic-based criminal laws, except for ...
. In its December 2020 report, the
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA, Spanish: ''Asociación internacional de lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, trans e intersexuales'') is a LGBTQ+ rights organization. It participates in a multitude of a ...
(ILGA) found that homosexuality is criminalized in 67 of 193
UN member states The United Nations comprise sovereign states and the world's largest intergovernmental organization. All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The Charter of the United Nations defines the rules for admission of ...
and one non-independent jurisdiction, the
Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...
, while two UN member states, Iraq and Egypt, criminalize it '' de facto'' but not in legislation. Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Arab of Emirates and Yemen still allow for the prescription of the death penalty if one engages in homosexual sexual activity. According to the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...
, 26 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 29 percent of straight men. Additionally, 40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape, compared to 21 percent of straight men. Research by Rebecca L. Stotzer and Margaret Shih found that masculinity is seen as fragile, needing constant reinforcement through displays of heterosexuality and rejection of femininity and homosexuality. This insecurity can cause men to react aggressively to anything challenging traditional gender roles and can significantly influence reactions to LGBT+ individuals.


Domestic violence

Female and male perpetrators of domestic violence tend to commit different types of acts of violence. For example, women are more likely to throw or hit with objects, kick, bite, or punch, while men are more likely to choke or strangle. The CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey during 2016-2017 found that in the United States, 42.3% of men and 42.0% of women reported having experienced physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. For severe violence, 24.6% of men and 32.5% of women reported lifetime exposure. Men are less likely to be
murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...
by an intimate partner than women. In the United States, in 2021, approximately 1079 men were killed by their intimate partners, compared to approximately 1690 women. Men who are victims of
domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
are often reluctant to report it or to seek help. Shamita Das Dasgupta and Erin Pizzey are among those who argue that, as with other forms of violence against men,
intimate partner violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical abuse, physical, verbal abuse, verb ...
is generally less recognized in society when the victims are men. Domestic violence accusations by males against females are often trivialized or belittled by police.Schlesinger Buzawa, Eva; Buzawa, Carl G. (2003),
Factors affecting police response
, in :''Citing both'': :* :''and more recent contradictory research'': :*
Research since the 1990s has identified issues of perceived and actual bias when police are involved, with the male victim being negated even while injured. Many people, both male and female, are hesitant to report domestic violence, for example, 1.9 million people aged 16–59 told the Crime Survey for England and Wales (year ending March 2017) that they were victims of domestic violence and 79% did not report their partner or ex-partner. Of the 1.9 million, approximately 713,000 were male, while 1.2 million were female. Emmanuel Rowlands' research sheds light on domestic violence against men in intimate relationships. He found that cultural and masculine expectations often hide male victims' experiences. In Johannesburg, South Africa, male victims of domestic violence are often overlooked or dismissed in gender-based violence studies. He discusses how societal expectations and the lack of recognition or support for male victims contribute to a culture of silence around male domestic abuse.


Mass killings

In situations of
structural violence Structural violence is a form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs or rights. The term was coined by Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung, who intr ...
that include war and genocide, men and boys are frequently singled out and killed.View online.
The singling out of men and boys of military age occurs due the assumption that they are potential combatants and is a form of gender-based violence. These acts of violence come from the assumptions of the male role in combat situations. This practice goes back well into recorded history; Roman records point to the mass killing of a conquered settlement's men and the enslavement of its women. The murder of targets by sex was also committed during the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
; estimates of civilian male victims of mass killings suggest that they made up more than 90% of all civilian casualties. Non-combatant men and boys have been targets of mass killings during war. Forced conscription can also be considered gender-based violence against men. Furthermore, examples may include the filtration camps set up by
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
in occupied areas during the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
.


Sexual violence

Sexual violence against men is often under-reported and de-emphasized. The CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey during 2010-2012 found that the number of women who were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey was 1,270,000 while the number of men who were made to penetrate was 1,267,000. The CDC excluded male victims from the fact sheet summary, noting only that "1.3 million women were raped during the year preceding the survey" without mentioning the similar finding for men. According to the 2018 Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia report, police forces in Australia recorded 4,100 male victims of sexual violence in 2016, as opposed to 18,900 female victims that year (thus, male victims constituted 17.8% of all victims). For male victims experiencing sexual violence since the age of 15, 55% reported a female perpetrator while 51% reported a male perpetrator (some who experienced sexual violence multiple times were victimised by men and women); by comparison, 98% of female victims since age 15 reported a male perpetrator, while 4.2% reported a female perpetrator (also some overlap here). In 2012, the UN refugee agency issued guidelines for UNHCR staff and aid workers on how to support and treat male victims of sexual violence and rape in war and human rights situations. The guidelines "include tips on the challenging task of identifying victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), given the stigma attached to rape". Adult men have been forcefully circumcised, most notably in the compulsory conversion of non-Muslims to Islam. and more recently especially in Kenya. In South Africa, custom allows uncircumcised
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
-speaking men past the age of circumcision (i.e., 25 years or older) to be overpowered by other men and forcibly circumcised. While some scholars view forced adult male circumcision as (gendered) sexual violence, the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
ruled in 2011 that such acts were not "sexual violence," but rather fell under the label of "other inhumane acts". Male sexual victimization is often minimized or dismissed. Causes include the stereotype of men being "sexually insatiable", the masculine expectation of "male invincibility" or that a "real man" can protect himself, that a gay victim "asked for it", and that a victim's arousal signifies that the event was consensual. Sexual assault within military ranks is a significant yet under-discussed issue affecting male servicemembers. Despite longstanding " zero-tolerance" policies, sexual violence persists, with men both as perpetrators and victims. Studies and surveys within the
U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...
have revealed that sexual assault against men is characterized by distinct challenges, often exacerbated by the hierarchical and insular nature of military life. Men in the military face particular vulnerabilities to sexual violence, which is frequently perpetrated by fellow servicemembers and often involves multiple assailants. For example, a study published in the ''Journal of Peace Research'' in 2017 highlighted that nearly 1% of active-duty servicemen reported experiencing sexual assault over a one-year period, with perpetrators typically being military colleagues. The persistence of sexual assault against men in the military can be partially attributed to socialization processes within the ranks. Informal socialization practices, including sexualized hazing, often trivialize or even endorse sexual harassment and assault, establishing a culture where such acts are seen as permissible forms of punishment or means of enforcing conformity. Furthermore, official socialization of officers does not always effectively oppose these norms, since military training continues to promote a type of masculinity that undermines efforts to avoid sexual assault. A comprehensive study by Gruber and Fineran compared the effects of sexual harassment and bullying on high school students' school engagement and academic outcomes. The findings suggest that while both sexual harassment and bullying adversely affect students, sexual harassment has a more significant impact on school attachment and academic performance for both male and female students. For men, the harassment is frequently linked with homophobic taunting, thereby not only targeting their gender but also questioning their sexuality, regardless of their actual sexual orientation.


War


Conscription

Conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
, sometimes called "the draft", is the compulsory enlistment of people in a
national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
, most often a
military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...
. Historically, only men have been subjected to military drafts, and currently only three countries conscript women and men on the same formal conditions: Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. Male-only conscription, or compulsory military service, has been criticized as
sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
. Critics regard it as discriminatory to compel men, but not women, into military service. They say the conscription of men normalizes male violence, conscripts are indoctrinated into sexism and violence against men, and military training socializes conscripts into patriarchal gender roles. Despite that, some feminist organizations have resisted inclusion of women in conscription, most notably the
Norwegian Association for Women's Rights The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (; NKF) is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's rights, women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political reform, ...
.


Wartime sexual violence

Wartime sexual violence Wartime sexual violence is rape or other forms of sexual violence committed by combatants during an armed conflict, war, or military occupation often as War looting, spoils of war, but sometimes, particularly in ethnic conflict, the phenomen ...
committed by men against men is used as
psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...
in order to demoralize the enemy. The practice is ancient, and was recorded as taking place during the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
. During periods of armed conflict men may be raped, sexually mutilated, sexually humiliated, forced incest, or even enslaved. Castration in particular is used as a means of physical torture with strong psychological effects, namely the loss of the ability to procreate and the loss of the status of a full man. In recent conflicts such as the
Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
and a number of smaller conflicts across
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
the most commonly reported act of sexual violence was genital violence. While sexual violence in all its forms is criminalized in international law, the culture of silence around sexual violence against men often leaves male victims with no support. In one study, less than 3% of organizations that address rape as a weapon of war mention men or provide services to male victims.Pdf.
/ref> Works of Dorota Glowacka illuminates the under-researched issue of sexual violence against men and boys during the
holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. In her study Glowacka explores a multitude of cases where male victims experienced sexual assault, coercion, and humiliation within
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
, a subject that has historically been overshadowed by the predominant focus on female victims of sexual violence.


Homicide

In the U.S., crime statistics from 1976 onwards show that men are over-represented as victims in homicide involving both male and female offenders (74.9% of victims are male). Men also make up the majority (88%) of
homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
perpetrators regardless if the victim is female or male. According to the
Bureau of Justice Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of c ...
, women who kill men are most likely to kill acquaintances, spouses or boyfriends while men are more likely to kill strangers. One study looking at 97 women on death row showed that these people often experienced
intimate partner violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical abuse, physical, verbal abuse, verb ...
by the people they murdered. In Australia, men are also over-represented as victims, with the Australian Institute of Criminology finding that men are 11.5 times more likely than women to be killed by a stranger. Data from the U.K. also shows a homicide rate for males to be twice that of females. While the proportion of homicide victims in the U.K. in the 1960s was fairly evenly split between men and women, the genders have since shown different trends: while female victim numbers remained static, male numbers increased.


Police killings

In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, police killings is one of the leading causes of death for young men. The likelihood of dying as a result of police use of force is 1 in 2,000 men and 1 in 33,000 women. Studies using recent data have found that Black, Hispanic, and Native American/Alaskan individuals are disproportionately stopped by police and killed in encounters. These inequalities in turn show higher rates of death by police for people of color, particularly black men having a 1 in 1,000 chance of being killed by police use of force. Data from Australia, the European Union, and the United Kingdom also demonstrates that death while in police custody is more frequent among men.


By country


India

A study of men in the rural area of
Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...
, India found that 52.4% of men in this area experienced some form of gender-based violence.


Nigeria

In Nigeria, domestic violence against men is often overlooked and carries a cultural stigma. Adetutu Aragbuwa's research into online comments on Nigerian news articles shows mixed views: while some justify violence against men as self-defense by women, others outright condemn all forms of violence.


Sudan

In the context of the
Darfur genocide The Darfur genocide was the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people during the War in Darfur. The genocide, which was carried out against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict sev ...
, gender-based violence was not only prevalent against women but also systematically used against men and boys as a tool of war and genocide. This gender-based violence included acts that emasculated victims, such as sexual violence, humiliation, genital harm, and killings based on sex. These acts were deeply gendered, reflecting and reinforcing hegemonic gender norms within Sudanese society.


See also

*
Bodily integrity Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination of human beings over their own bodies. In the field of human rights, violation of the bodily int ...
*
Children's rights Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.
*
Male expendability Male expendability, the relative expendability argument, or the expendable male hypothesis, is the idea that the lives of male humans are of less concern to a population than those of female humans because they are less necessary for population ...
*
Men's rights movement The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of the men's movement. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals known as men's rights activists (MRAs) who focus on social issues, such as specific government services, w ...
*
Misandry Misandry () is the hatred of or prejudice against men or boys. Earliest recorded use: 1885. "No man whom she cared for had ever proposed to marry her. She could not account for it, and it was a growing source of bitterness, of misogyny as wel ...
*
Prison rape Prison rape or jail rape is sexual assault of people while they are incarcerated. The phrase is commonly used to describe rape of inmates by other inmates. It is a significant, if controversial, part of what is studied under the wider concept ...
*
Sex differences in crime Sex differences in crime are differences between men and women as the perpetrators or victims of crime. Such studies may belong to fields such as criminology (the scientific study of criminal behavior), sociobiology (which attempts to demonstrat ...
*
Violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...


References

{{Reflist, 30em Men's health Men's rights Misandry