The Forgotten: Male Victims of Spousal Abuse

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GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine

February 2010
64 Pages

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The Forgotten
Male Victims of Spousal Abuse
Support by Evan Kayne
From February 2010 (Page 43)

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Traditionally, most domestic abuse victim support services operated under the assumption of abuser = male, victim = female. Unfortunately, this leaves the LGBT community out in the cold – especially when both halves of the couple are male. What has changed recently is the awareness that men can be victims of domestic violence. Note that this is not to downplay concerns of female victims and/or abusers in a female/female domestic abuse situation – this article is just to highlight the support for men who have suffered abuse.

Abuse impacts people regardless of sexuality, yet while heterosexual male-on-female abuse is well documented and researched, for the LGBT community, there are few statistics. According to local registered psychologist Jane Oxenbury (M.Ed., C.Psych.), “the problem is that there isn’t a lot of research out there, and the research…is only as good as it is designed”. The pitfall of survey design regarding this topic is that the respondents are in a closet with double-thick doors - not only does the person have to admit he was in an abusive relationship (or an abuser), but also “out” himself.

Jane adds that a standard statistic for gay and lesbian domestic abuse that has been used for many years is an average of all the research that is known to exist, which comes to 25-33% of all relationships.

Some numbers even suggest domestic abuse may be higher in a male-male partnership. Jane is not sure if that is correct either: “there’s a lot of myths that go along with women using violence against other women.”

Furthermore, while some research shows men in MM relationships may be more prone to physical violence and women in FF relationships prone to verbal and psychological abuse, there are many instances where...

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Men’s Domestic Abuse Resources
In Calgary:
www.calgarycounselling.com
www.vigorcalgary.ca
www.wheatland.albertashelters.com
In Edmonton:
www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/resident_services_programs/mens-support-services.aspx
www.pridecentreofedmonton.org
http://www.edmontonpolice.ca/VictimSupport/WhatIsAbuse/SpousalViolence.aspx

LGBT Domestic Abuse - Town Hall Meeting
March 25th • Eau Claire
More details to follow in March Edition.

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