Domestic Violence Against Men and Boys Experiences of Male Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

1. Introduction: The importance of this volumeElizabeth A. Bates and Julie C. Taylor

Part 1: Research

Alexandra Papamichail and Ged McElhone

Part 2: Practice

Biography

Elizabeth A. Bates is a Principal Lecturer in Psychology and Psychological Therapies at the University of Cumbria, UK. Her research focusses on working with male victims of domestic violence including their experience of physical and psychological abuse, the impact on them, and the ways in which abuse can continue and change post-separation.

Julie C. Taylor is the Head of Learning, Teaching and Student Experience within the Institute of Health at the University of Cumbria, UK. A recurrent theme of her research and practice has been meaningful stakeholder engagement and seeking to use research and evaluation methods that facilitate this. Her current research includes exploring children and young people’s experiences of domestic violence.

"The new volume on male domestic violence victimization, edited by domestic violence scholars Elizabeth Bates and Julie Taylor, is a welcome addition to the growing literature on this much-neglected topic. The book provides a nice balance of empirical research findings and qualitative accounts from men whose voices are almost never heard elsewhere. As a research scholar, and as a clinician who has worked with both male and female domestic violence victims, as well as their abusers, for over three decades, I found the data presented to be accurate and up-to-date, and the personal accounts very much rang true. In particular, the chapter on men's experiences as victims of coercive control reminds us that while women are far more impacted by physical abuse, the consequences of psychological abuse are much more comparable across gender. The sections on family violence and post-separation abuse provided an enlightening set of findings with implications for disputed child custody cases, where gendered assumptions of domestic violence have for years unnecessarily kept fathers from their children, and anyone concerned about the safety of victims ought to be concerned about the findings presented in the chapter on obstacles male victims face when seeking services."

John Hamel, PhD, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Private Practice and Editor-in-Chief of Partner Abuse.

"E. Bates and J. Taylor’s book presents an excellent and incisive analysis of different long-neglected issues that affect men who experience intimate partner violence. While the research on men’s partner victimization has been growing in the past ten-fifteen years, the book chapters cover a broad yet powerfully nuanced array of knowledge in this area, including men’s experiences of partner violence within the LGBTQ+ community, men’s experiences of coercive control and post-separation abuse, boys’ victimization within the family, and older men’s experiences of abuse. While men’s victimization is often considered a controversial issue, this book provides a balanced and nuanced analysis of the complexities of partner violence with the focus on men. Authors strongly support the use of gender-inclusive as opposed to gender-neutral language to highlight the importance of engaging consideration of men as not only the perpetrators but also as victims of abuse. As a compelling and informative work, this book is a must read for academics and practitioners alike, who seek to expand their knowledge and understanding of the challenges that men who experience partner violence face in different types of relationships and different contexts.　I commend and admire Elizabeth Bates and Julie Taylor for putting together this book!"

Alexandra (Sasha) Lysova, Associate Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

"Finally, here is a book that provides a resounding counterpoint to the gender-based violence discourse that focuses exclusively on female and child victimization - a discourse that has dominated global policy and politics about intimate partner violence for decades. Scientific evidence has been accumulating about the parity and impact of IPV on men and boys, yet this research and the experiences of these victims have been largely neglected and portrayed as anomalous or trivial. Bates and Taylor have compiled a set of chapters addressing a variety of topics that have been ignored in this larger IPV discourse, (e.g., intimate partner violence in the lives of gay, bisexual, and transgender men), each written in a balanced way by leading IPV scientists and scholars. The chapter authors not only review research evidence on the impact of IPV on men and boys, but they highlight topics that are ripe for scientific inquiry and understanding."

Jennifer J. Harman, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, USA.