…the marginalisation of men in a system originally designed for women
“No amount of excuse would give reasonableness to the domestic abuse of a spouse by the other. Abuse should be addressed across the board and irrespective of gender because violence against men or women is an injustice to all” – Yewande Adeleke.
Every part of social life is faced with numerous obstacles by the modern way of living. The house and the private sphere of people’s lives, however, are likely among the areas that change the most quickly. Domestic violence is on the rise, and its manifestations are growing, according to recent reports from the World Health Organisation, pertinent research institutions, and non-governmental organisations dealing with family and family life-related issues. Domestic violence has gotten worse over the past two years, particularly as a result of COVID-19 quarantines and closures, having severe impact on the peaceable relationships within the family. Additionally, family law cases are among the most challenging to resolve because they encompass characteristics of domestic violence that are difficult to quantify, such as the depth and intensity of marital love, parental devotion, and care for the weak and helpless members of the family.
The expressions ‘domestic violence’ and ‘violence in intimate relationships’ are widely used nowadays. According to Act 732 of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, Section 1 of the Act indicates that domestic violence means engaging in the following within the context of a previous or existing domestic relationship: an act under the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29) which constitutes physical abuse, sexual abuse, economic abuse, and emotional, verbal or psychological abuse and … is likely to detract from another person’s dignity and worth as a human being.
Though these elements of domestic violence are relevant, others should also be considered due to their frequent occurrence in a domestic relationship; namely: discriminatory abuse (unequal treatment, denying basic rights to healthcare and education, particularly in domestic settings where the victim is not the biological child of the respondent), neglect and acts of omission (especially parents neglecting the welfare of children), exploitation of a member(s) in a domestic relationship, abandonment (especially a spouse deserting the home) and social abuse (acts of controlling behaviours).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), intimate partner violence is “any behaviour inside an intimate relationship that causes individuals in the connection physical, psychological or sexual harm”. The expression ‘intimate partner violence’ (IPV) is also used to describe any violent act committed “between current and previous legally married spouses, common-law partners, boyfriends and girlfriends, and other types of intimate relationships”. For many years, discussing domestic violence in public was not acceptable or recognised as a social concern because it was seen as a private matter.
Domestic abuse against men is a largely taboo subject, particularly in Ghana. Our natural inclination is to believe that a male is an abuser and not the victim in the majority of domestic violence incidents. Even while this might be the case, as it often is, the problem of violence against men is more pervasive than we realise.
Domestic violence, sometimes referred to as abuse against one’s spouse, family violence, or intimate partner violence, is a pattern of behaviour in which one partner is mistreated by the other. It may be verbal, sexual, or psychological in character and typically manifests in a variety of ways, including intimidation, physical assault, emotional abuse, oppression, among other behaviours. It also encompasses any other form of oppressive behaviour that can jeopardise the victim’s safety, health, or general well-being.
Even though domestic violence against males is a topic that is becoming more and more prevalent, it is still given less attention than violence against women. There are a variety of causes for this. A significant issue is the underreporting of occurrences involving female partners abusing males. The majority of males rarely report such situations, especially in Ghana, out of concern that they could be seen as less manly. The ‘fear of disclosure’ is one issue described as being brought on by society, which has put pressure on males to not act weak. Most of the time, the male sufferer decides not to tell anyone because he may believe that he has not upheld society’s definition of manliness or, more precisely, the rules of manly ideals.
Others may be holding on because they do not want to lose custody of their children to abusive spouses, while some men continue in abusive relationships because they are completely dedicated to their partners. Some people might persist until they become too emotionally upset to leave. Another group of males is those who attempted to seek assistance but give up after having unpleasant encounters. They might have gone outside in the hopes that someone would take them seriously, but that is not always the case. For the final group, things would have gotten so bad that the victimised male would no longer even view himself as a victim, making it challenging to assist him. We are forced to question how many more men are quiet victims of domestic abuse by their spouses in the face of all these obstacles and more.
Due to the enormous pressure on males to appear as though everything is well even when it is not, the subject of violence against men is frequently largely ignored. This causes more males hesitant to bring up their experience of domestic abuse. The sad reality is that as at now, husband punching, kicking, slapping, sex deprivation, and murdering are common occurrences in Ghana. Due to the easy access to evidence made possible by the widespread distribution of images and videos showing the mistreatment of men by their spouses—albeit for various reasons—social media has further shone a spotlight on incidences of male domestic abuse.
As most people are quick to think that men are not typically known to be on the receiving end of physical aggression, it would seem that narrating domestic violence from the male victim’s perspective is fairly uncommon. In a primarily patriarchal country like Ghana, where men are expected to be more dominating due to their physical power, hearing that a guy was threatened or physically assaulted by his spouse might be seen as dishonourable.
The fear that law enforcement would not believe that they had been victims of domestic violence, the belief that their reports of victimisation would not be taken seriously, and/or the fear of being accused of committing the violence themselves are just a few of the barriers that male victims of domestic violence have reported as keeping them from reporting to the authorities.
Men are not known to voice their complaints easily, not even to close friends and relatives, in comparison to women who are typically urged to do so when they find themselves in violent relationships or marriages. Men are also prevented from speaking up by severe criticism and public jeers. In addition to this, it’s also possible that after reporting the incident to the relevant authorities, the victim may wind up being blamed for the offense. Male victims of domestic violence generally have to meet a higher standard of proof or provide a more compelling narrative to support their accusations.
Men who have experienced domestic abuse have many options for getting support, and it is just as vital to addressing it as any other case of gender-based violence. To start, speak up as soon as you can. Talking to a friend, relative, doctor or another close contact could be the victim’s first step. Additionally, by reminding male victims that they, too, can obtain justice, social projects that raise awareness might be helpful. An excellent example is the Mankind Initiative, whose tagline, “remember that you are not to blame, you are not weak, and you are not alone,” reassures male victims.
Effects of domestic abuse on men
According to a study by Mantey (2019), the aftermath of abuse always has a devastating effect on all types of victims of violence. Therefore, male victims are no exception; they suffer physical, psychological, and emotional torture at the hands of their spouses. The men interviewed explained various degrees of these negative consequences on their lives. Among the ten (10) cases investigated, the majority explained emotional and psychological effects as the main outcomes of the abuses they suffered from their spouses. Some added physical injuries as a result of the violence they suffered from their spouses. The cases of BK and SB who have been assaulted by their spouses are as follows:
BK says: “When she hit me, I got hurt on my head and had to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell the doctor the truth. I told her I was knocked down by a motorbike, which was not true. I was hurt in the arm, too. At this moment, one of my fingers is not working. My arm was cut like five times. At the moment, I have two stitches there as well. There were also cuts on my arm and my ribs. There was no way we could continue, so she packed her belongings and left”.
On the part of SB, he said: “The abuse affected me emotionally because, as a staff of an NGO that deals with children and family issues, I do not want to talk about the emotional torture I am going through at home. Anytime I go to work, I do not think right because I was emotionally disturbed. The evidence narrated by SB that he was unwilling to talk about his situation is in tandem with Adebayo (2014), which indicates that men victims bear the effects of violence in silence. His narration also points to the fact that the emotional effect of violence on male victims has a negative consequence on the work they do. Indeed, all victims of domestic violence suffer multiple effects, which sometimes result in low mental alertness and ultimately in gloomy performance at the workplace. SB explained that he worked for a non-governmental organisation that assists children from deprived families. Some of these children under SB’s care were likely from abusive relatives; therefore, allowing such children to see his predicament could remind them of the past negative situation they had gone through. More so, from SB’s narration, it seems male victims seek assistance from security and welfare institutions as the last resort. Despite all the physical and emotional stresses SB had gone through, he was yet to seek help or report to any institution. He added that he was considering reporting his case to the DOVVSU only because family-based dispute settlement arrangements worked in favour of his spouse. Also, the delay on the side of law enforcement agencies handling domestic cases is off-putting for some male victims, who as a result refuse to report cases of abuse.
Policy support and consideration
- Section 7 Act 732 states, a Police Officer shall respond to a request by a person for assistance from domestic violence and shall offer the protection that the circumstances of the case or the person who made the report require, even when the person reporting is not the victim of the domestic violence. The question that comes to mind is can the police provide shelter for a victim? This is worthwhile because most victims report physical abuse, and will like to seek refuge from the abuser(s). It is herewith recommended that this section be rearticulated to include the exact assistance the Police should provide victims because the Police are not in a position to offer protection in all circumstances.
- Section 8 of Act 732 specifies that a victim of domestic violence who is assisted by the Police to obtain medical treatment is entitled to free medical treatment from the State. However, studies conducted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Ghana Statistical Services (GSS), and Associates (2016) have shown that in many hospitals, victims of physical violence who require emergency medical treatment are asked to make payment before receiving medical attention, contrary to the provision of the Act. It is interesting to note that medical centres were not included under the objectives of the funds per the Act. However, the law states that medical treatment will be free, so the next question is how does government expect these medical facilities to offer free treatment to victims when they are not financially assisted? It is my humble recommendation that the law is enforced to encourage victims to report and seek early treatment.
- In the fight against domestic violence, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1971 (Act 367) requires attention and consideration. It is my humble suggestion that the law should be amended to include a statutory separation provision like other jurisdictions such as Australia and Ireland. This will enable victims of domestic violence to apply to the courts for separation even as efforts are being made for reconciliation of the marriage. This will encourage victims of domestic violence in marriages that are less than two years to seek refuge from their abusive spouses since the Matrimonial Act does not encourage the petition of divorce that are less than two years. Issuance of protection orders under this Act alone is not enough.
The discussion shows that male victims of domestic violence are frequently reluctant to report their circumstances to either the Police or the Department of Social Welfare (DSW), which is required by law to provide victims with support services, including counselling and home visits. Overall, a majority of the participants concurred that domestic abuse violates human rights, yet males are prevented from pursuing legal remedies due to societal bias, including gender stereotypes. Some of the participants also voiced concerns about how law enforcement agencies like the Police and DOVVSU ignore them, and occasionally mock them if they report cases. The author suggests that the attitudes of law enforcement agencies and other caregivers toward male victims are a major factor that explains the lackadaisical postures of men in reporting abuse. Additionally, the reason law enforcement agencies do not take male victims seriously is partly a result of the perceived notion that men are perpetrators while women and children are victims. Therefore, any man who reports an abuse case to the Police and other institutions is seen as a coward who is unable to take care of his family.
Similarly, male victims bear the effect of abuse with anguish. Unlike women, male victims shy away from letting other people know the cause of injuries they sustained as a result of domestic violence, they sometimes ascribe physical injuries to motor accidents, rather than domestic brawls.
In conclusion, many people are unaware that domestic violence is a problem for human rights, affecting freedom of expression and other rights like liberty. Its effects, which can be quite overpowering, have the potential to cause major mental health problems like sadness, anxiety, inferiority complex, PTSD and, in the worst circumstances, the victim’s suicide. Any justification would not make a spouse’s domestic violence for other reasons because violence against men or women is an injustice to everyone; abuse should be addressed everywhere and regardless of gender.
Sensitisation and education should be provided for all, most especially, our religious organisations to encourage their members to report domestic violence rather than encouraging marriage permanence and advising abuse victims to put up with it, approaching the violence as a family matter.
References
Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act732)
Matrimonial Causes Act 1971 (Act 367)
Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and Associates (2016), Domestic Violence in Ghana: Incidence, Attitudes, Determinants, and Consequences,
Domestic Violence in Ghana: The Attitude of male victims of Accra (Mantey, 2019)
Adebayo, A. (2014). Domestic Violence Against Men: Balancing the Gender Issues in Nigeria. American Journal of Sociological Research, 4(1), 14-19
Katy, K. (2009). The hidden side of domestic abuse: Men abused in intimate relationships. Pandora’Project.https://pandys.org/articles/maledomesticviolence.htmlhttps://evaluation.msf.org/sites/evaluation/files/a _guide_to_using_qualitative_research_methodology.pdf
The writer is a Ph.D. candidate, CEPA, CFIP, ATA MIPA, ChMC, AMCFE, & Researcher) Contact: 0246390969 – Email: [email protected]
