Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Male Victims of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence

One of those  taboo subjects!

Why they so often like to call the victims of intimate partner violence "survivors" is a riddle to me! It is a misnomer that conjures up extreme violence and drama when in fact the violence is often far from being deadly!

This a very old, well known problem dates back several decades! Yes, men who suffered from violent female partner do not necessarily seek help.

On the other hand, how often does it happen? How many men are affected? Unless the number of unreported cases is large, we are dealing here probably with a almost negligible number. I seriously doubt the 44% of men figure reported by the CDC (see below). What is the definition of violence? The definition given in the article below is clearly too broad and therefore rather meaningless!

"Men are less likely than women to seek help after experiencing intimate partner violence, and new research from George Mason University found that the main barriers include viewing it as a private matter, fear of retaliation, shame, and concerns about not being believed. ...

This study is among the first large-scale (nearly 1,200 men) U.S. studies to compare help-seeking barriers among non-Latino Black, Latino, and non-Latino White male victims of intimate partner violence.  ...

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 44% of men report being victims of IPV, but many of these men are not receiving support ..."

From the abstract:

"This study examined barriers to help-seeking among male victims of intimate partner violence perpetrated by female partners, comparing differences across non-Latino Black, Latino, and non-Latino White men in the United States.

Using a sample of 1,194 men recruited through the online panel Centiment, this study assessed the prevalence of specific barriers to help-seeking and examined differences across racial/ethnic groups.

Data were collected through a structured survey with an additional open-ended item to capture barriers not reflected in the checklist. Results indicated that men across all racial/ethnic groups reported similar core barriers to help-seeking, including viewing intimate partner violence as a private matter, fear of retaliation, shame, and concerns about not being believed; however, the pattern of barrier endorsement varied by group.

Latino men were significantly more likely than both Black and White men to report difficulty knowing how to disclose their experiences and were more likely than White men to report language- and immigration-related barriers.

In contrast, Black men were less likely than Latino and White men to report concerns about bias or disbelief, a pattern that warrants cautious interpretation given broader historical and structural contexts.

White men, meanwhile, were more likely than Latino men to report difficulty recognizing or labeling their experiences as abuse.

Together, these findings highlight the need for culturally responsive, gender-inclusive interventions that address stigma, structural barriers, and institutional biases shaping men’s help-seeking and service engagement following intimate partner violence victimization."

"... Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health issue that transcends geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic boundaries, affecting individuals worldwide ... Defined as any form of physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological harm inflicted by a current or former intimate partner, IPV encompasses a spectrum of abusive behaviors within intimate relationships ...

Over the past few decades, research has confirmed that men experience IPV at substantial rates, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reporting that approximately 44.2% of men and 47.3% of women experience contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime ..."

Shame, stigma, and culture prevent male intimate partner violence survivors from seeking help, study finds | George Mason University "George Mason University researchers found that barriers to help-seeking vary across racial and ethnic groups, highlighting gaps in support for male survivors."

Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Male Victims of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence: Insights From Black, Latino, and White Men (open access)

Japan's "comfort women" system in WW2 explained

Very recommendable! A horrible story of sex slavery at an enormous scale in Asia. One of the Largest Cases of Human Trafficking and sexual violence against women in History. Some of the women were forced to have sex with up to 40 men per day. At the end of the war, Japan made attempts to cover up by dressing abused sex slaves in nurse uniforms or they killed these sex slaves. Japanese medical staff participated in the sexual abuse as well.

Another reason why two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan.

The Japanese Empire started to develop the brothel system in 1904. The map shows the extent of the brothel/comfort system by 1916.

French Senate Backs Bill Defining Rape as Any Non-consensual Act with Palki Sharma. Really!

I don't believe this makes things easier in court regarding sometimes difficult cases of alleged rape!

Second, it may result in being used as a weapon or a means of extortion by a woman against a man.

What if a woman first consents and then reconsiders etc.

In my view, this is perhaps a feel good legislation!

Men beware of the battle of the sexes!

Ministerin Warken zur Stadtbild-Debatte: „Frauen haben Pfefferspray dabei“. Wirklich!

Man hat ja schon oft gesagt, dass lebenslange Berufspolitiker von wenig viel Ahnung haben oder das sie in einer realitätsfernen Blase leben!

Hat man Frau Warken schon gefragt, ob sie ständig Pfefferspray mit sich führe?

Laut Wikipedia ist ihr beruflicher Lebenslauf sehr dünn! Ist sie eine Vorzeigefrau der CDU? Wie kam Kanzler Friedrich Merz zu ihr? Gab es keine bessere Wahl für diesen Ministerposten? Haben die beiden mal ein Bett geteilt?

Ministerin Warken zur Stadtbild-Debatte: „Frauen haben Pfefferspray dabei“ "Der Kanzler sehe das schon richtig, betont nun auch Bundesgesundheitsministerin Nina Warken: Frauen würden sich im öffentlichen Raum zunehmend unsicher fühlen. Sie rät zu Pfefferspray, das die Vorgängerregierung verboten hat und spätestens in „Waffenverbotszonen“ zu empfindlichen Strafen führt."

Die falsch blonde Bundesgesundheitsministerin Nina Warken (46 Jahre alt)

Children Face ‘Extremely High’ Prevalence of Sexual Violence worldwide of roughly 1 in 6 children. Pervasiveness underestimated! Really!

What a depraved world we must be living in! Now the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have more reason to fund more research into this topic!

Notice this is a meta study.

Notice again how the term survivor is (ideologically?) preferred/abused as if to suggest that most victims are murdered!

Notice how percentage estimates/forecasts are translated into x in y girls/boys. I am not sure this is proper!

On the Solomon Islands almost 43% of all girls are victims of sexual violence? What a Pacific Ocean island paradise? Caution: irony!

In Mongolia, only 4.2% of boys are victims? I guess, these famous Mongolian horde warriors are better left alone. According to Google search, Mongolian boys used to carry little daggers. Caution: satire!

As always with such studies, the definition of terms and the data sources matter a lot. Some doubt is usually in order. It appears e.g. this study did not distinguish any traditions, customs, or habits that may appear to Westerners as sexual violence, but may actually represent fairly harmless and accepted behavior.

The definition of "other contact sexual violence" appears to be dubious or too extensive.

Here is the excerpt that defines SVAC according to this study: "The case definition of SVAC used in this study is having ever experienced intercourse or other contact sexual violence (ie, fondling and other sexual touching) before the age of 18 years, in which the contact was unwanted (ie, physically forced or coerced).

This case definition does not include online abuse or exploitation, as information on these forms of violence is usually measured separately.

It also closely aligns with SDG Indicator 16.2.313 and the International Classification of Violence Against Children (ICVAC), a framework established by UNICEF that provides a set of internationally agreed upon operational concepts and definitions. In keeping with this system and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we use the term violence to refer to any sexual violence against children, regardless of victim–perpetrator relationship. ..."

"Globally, at least 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys have experienced sexual violence before age 18, finds a new study published in The Lancet, considered “one of the most comprehensive assessments to date,” ...

A closer look: The study analyzed data from all countries spanning 1990–2023. 

Rates of affected girls were highest in South Asia, at 26.8%; and highest in sub-Saharan Africa for boys, at 18.6% ... 

However, the prevalence is “extremely high” worldwide, and the numbers are likely an underestimate.

Long-term effects: People who survive sexual violence in their youth face a higher risk for ongoing health issues, including depression, anxiety, STIs, substance abuse, and chronic conditions like asthma. ..."

From the abstract:

"Background

Measuring sexual violence against children (SVAC) is vital to prevention and advocacy efforts, yet existing prevalence studies present estimates for few countries. Here we estimate the prevalence of SVAC for 204 countries by age and sex, from 1990 to 2023, and also report the age at which young survivors of lifetime sexual violence first experienced sexual violence.

Methods

We reviewed publicly available repositories for data on the prevalence of SVAC. To harmonise heterogeneity in the identified input data, we adjusted for alternative case definitions of SVAC and differential disclosure by survey mode. We then used a spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression to estimate a full time series of exposure to SVAC for each age-sex-country combination. We accounted for uncertainty in the underlying data and modelling processes. We also analysed the age at which adolescent and young adult survivors of lifetime sexual violence first experienced this type of violence by sex, data source, and world region.

Findings

We estimate that the global age-standardised prevalence of SVAC was 18·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 16·0–25·2) for females and 14·8% (9·5–23·5) for males in 2023.

At the super-region level, these estimates ranged from 12·2% (9·0–17·2) in southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania to 26·8% (21·9–32·7) in south Asia for females and from 12·3% (5·2–24·6) in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia to 18·6% (9·7–32·3) in sub-Saharan Africa for males.

At the country level, age-standardised estimates ranged from 6·9% (4·8–9·6) in Montenegro to 42·6% (34·4–52·1) in Solomon Islands among females and from 4·2% (1·7–9·2) in Mongolia to 28·3% (13·2–49·8) in Côte d’Ivoire among males. Globally, these estimates remained relatively stable since 1990, with slight variations at the country and regional levels.

We also find that the first experience of sexual violence among adolescents and young people occurred before the age of 18 years for 67·3% of female and 71·9% of male survivors.

Interpretation

The prevalence of SVAC is extremely high for both females and males across the globe. Given data sparsity and ongoing measurement challenges, findings probably underestimate the true pervasiveness of SVAC. An overwhelmingly high proportion of survivors first experienced sexual violence during childhood, revealing a narrow yet sensitive window that should be targeted in future prevention efforts. It is a moral imperative to protect children from violence and mitigate its compounding impacts on health across the lifecourse.

Funding

The Gates Foundation."

Global Health NOW: Mosquito Nets and Geopolitical Bets; Children Face ‘Extremely High’ Prevalence of Sexual Violence; and Itʼs Giving … #MetGala

1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men worldwide experience sexual violence in childhood

Prevalence of sexual violence against children and age at first exposure: a global analysis by location, age, and sex (1990–2023) (open access)

Figure 1 Number of sexual violence against children data sources for females (A) and males (B); most recent year of data for females (C) and males (D)

[Notice the huge areas of basically terra incognita!]

Substitute teacher — whom police caught naked in her car with 17 year old student and who admitted to having sex with boy — avoids jail

Me Too again! At least the female rapist was not ugly! 😊 Pardon my facetious remark!

"A former Nebraska substitute teacher managed to avoid being sentenced to jail despite police reportedly catching the married woman in a state of undress with a naked underage student in her vehicle. ...

Erin Ward, 45, was arrested last April. She was charged with one count of felony sexual abuse by a school employee. ...

Deputies reportedly tracked down the teen within an hour of the incident. The driver later was identified as a 17-year-old student at Burke High School in Omaha. ...

Investigators claim Ward admitted to having sexual relations with the teen on multiple occasions. She allegedly told officers that the relationship had been going on for a few months and that she and the boy had sex only in her vehicle. ..."

Substitute teacher — whom police caught naked in her car with student and who admitted to having sex with boy — avoids jail | Blaze Media "When police confronted the undressed pair in the teacher's car, the boy reportedly jumped into the driver's seat, sped away, and crashed."

Transgender is made for male sexual predators and voyeurs

Food for thought! Who is attracted to become a transgender female? Is there a better way to get close to victims?

Unfortunately, this temptation is for real and can not be ruled out! Cui bono!

P.S. Of course, not all transgender males are sexual predators or voyeurs.

Female Teacher guilty of child rape of five boy students, impregnated by 12-year-old boy

Another Me Too event! Welcome to the age of gender equality!

Men watch out in the battle of the sexes!

"A former Tennessee teacher learned her fate this week after she was found guilty of 11 felonies in the child sexual abuse of five minors. What's more, the accused gave birth to a baby that was fathered by one of the victims — who was just 12 years old.

WREG-TV reported that Alissa McCommon, who taught 4th grade, pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a child, two counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, three counts of aggravated statutory rape, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means, and two counts of solicitation of a minor: aggravated statutory rape. ..."

Teacher Alissa McCommon guilty of child rape of students, impregnated by 12-year-old boy | Blaze Media "The former 4th-grade teacher has been accused of sexually abusing up to 21 children."

Military sexual assault rate higher than DOD estimates and very high during Afghanistan War, report finds. Really!

This seems to be some kind of an oxymoron and other issues:

1. Are we dealing with pussy cats in uniform or warriors?
2. The military leadership is tasked to maintain strict proper behavior among soldiers at all times in peace and in war
3. There is possibly a serious misunderstanding of gender equality in the U.S. Military due to flawed ideologies etc.
4. Could there be something wrong with the statistical data: 24% seems awfully high.

A female soldier is expected and trained to kick serious ass when assaulted and in combat or is she not! The self respect and ethos of a warrior requires this behavior! There should be no misunderstanding: Military service is not for breast feeding!

This could seriously undermine the combat readiness etc. of the U.S. Military!

Something in these stories here does not add up!

"... There were more than 75,500 cases of sexual assault in the military in 2021, higher than the Pentagon’s estimate of approximately 35,900 cases that year, according to the report by the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute. ...".

"... Over the past decade, the U.S. military has implemented policies to promote gender equality, notably lifting the ban on women in combat roles in 2013 and opening all military jobs to women by 2016. Yet, even as U.S. military policy reforms during the “War on Terror” appear to reflect greater equality, violent patterns of abuse and misogyny continued within military workplaces. ...
Based on a comparison of available data collected by the U.S. Department of Defense to independent data, the research estimates there were 75,569 cases of sexual assault in 2021 and 73,695 cases in 2023.
On average, over the course of the war in Afghanistan, 24 percent of active-duty women and 1.9 percent of active-duty men experienced sexual assault. ..."

Military sexual assault rate higher than DOD estimates, report finds

Deserted: The U.S. Military'S Sexual Assault Crisis As A Cost Of War

WHO: Adolescent girls face alarming rates of intimate partner violence, nearly 1 in 4 before age 20

I suspect these numbers are exaggerated! It is only a metadata study!

What is usually rarely mentioned that other females are often involved as willing and often intentional accessories to this sexual violence.

Strangely enough, the WHO has focused only on male on female violence!

Did the WHO equate child marriage automatically with intimate partner violence? That would be dubious in some cases!

"Among adolescent girls who have been in a relationship, nearly a quarter (24%) – close to 19 million – will have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20 years old, as highlighted by a new analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Almost 1 in 6 (16%) experienced such violence in the past year. ..."

From the abstract

"Background

Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem and negatively affects short-term and long-term health, development, and wellbeing of adolescent girls. Global estimates from WHO have shown that adolescent girls aged 15–19 years experience high rates of intimate partner violence. We aimed to estimate the lifetime and past-year prevalence and patterns of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls by male partners across 161 countries and areas, and to examine the country-level factors, including the prevalence of child marriage, associated with the lifetime and past-year prevalence of intimate partner violence in this age group.

Methods

These analyses used the 2018 global, regional, and country estimates on intimate partner violence published by WHO and economic, social, and political metadata from subject-specific databases. Drawing on data from the WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women, we used hierarchical Bayesian modelling techniques to estimate lifetime and past-year prevalence of physical or sexual (or both) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls aged 15–19 years by country. Linear regression methods were used to examine contextual social, economic, and political factors associated with intimate partner violence against adolescent girls in the 101 countries (lifetime prevalence) and 105 countries (past-year prevalence) for which these metadata were available.

Findings

The estimated global prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against ever-partnered adolescent girls aged 15–19 years was 24% (95% uncertainty interval 21–28) in their lifetime and 16% (14–19) in the past year. Prevalence varied greatly across countries and regions, with lifetime prevalence ranging from 6% (3–11) in Georgia to 49% (35–64) in Papua New Guinea. Overall, the prevalence of both lifetime (154 countries) and past-year (157 countries) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls was higher in low-income and lower-middle-income countries and regions than in high-income countries and regions. Countries with higher rates of female secondary school enrollment and those with inheritance laws that are more gender-equal had lower prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls. Lower-income countries and societies with a high prevalence of child marriage had higher prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls.

Interpretation

Our findings highlight the widespread prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls across the globe and its relationship with country-level contextual factors. They emphasise the need for promoting and ensuring policies and programmes that increase and ensure gender equality. Countries should strive to provide secondary education for all girls, ensure equal property rights for women, eliminate discriminatory gender norms, and address harmful practices such as child marriage."

Global Health NOW: Women and Girls Aren’t Safe in Khartoum; How Stigma Stymies Access to Care in Malawi; and Marking a ‘Market-Driven Epidemic’

Adolescent girls face alarming rates of intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence against adolescent girls: regional and national prevalence estimates and associated country-level factors (open access)

Boxers who failed gender tests before will fight women at Olympic Games in Paris 2024

Men who beat up women at the Olympic Games! Shameful!

As a female athlete I would boycott the fight! Let the man box with himself or with another man!

Where are the usual women's rights activists when you need them!!!!

"Two boxers have caused an uproar after being allowed to compete against women at the Paris Olympics despite having previously failed gender eligibility tests. Both have won gold medals against women at different international boxing competitions.

Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) both were stripped of medals at the 2023 world championships in New Delhi after event organizers — the International Boxing Association — determined the fighters were ineligible. ..."

Boxers who failed gender tests will fight women at Olympics | Blaze Media "The International Olympic Committee acknowledged both fighters previously had been stripped of medals."

North Carolina teacher arrested for indecent liberties with an underage student, felony sex acts

So many Me Too events in the age of gender equality! Here is another one!

Gentlemen, in the battle of the sexes watch out! 😊

"... Blaze News has reported since May about 11 female teachers and school employees who have been accused or convicted of child sex crimes ..."

North Carolina teacher arrested for indecent liberties with a student, felony sex acts | Blaze Media The 39-year-old teacher faces as much as a decade in prison if convicted on all six counts.

Survivor shares testimony of rape during Hamas' 'Nova' party massacre

These cowardly mass monster killers of Hamas even raped men! Disgusting!

Survivor shares testimony of rape during Hamas' 'Nova' party massacre - The Jerusalem Post This is the first time a survivor of the massacre has openly discussed his sexual assault by terrorists.

DOD Report: Prevalence of Sexual Assault Declined Across Services in 2023

A very short report (26 pages)! Absolute numbers are withheld in official news release!

Given the total number of active duty personnel of over 450,000 it is surprising that about 29,000 (or at least 6%) reported a sexual assault in one year. That seems to be high.

How can so many male soldiers be sexually assaulted? Where they assaulted by females and they did not like it? 😊

One also has to carefully distinguish between reported incidents and incidents disclosed during a survey. It appears only about 1 in 4 incidents are reported.

It is also striking that the report is silent on the perpetrators. E.g. how many females are perpetrators?

"The prevalence of sexual assault in the active-duty force declined compared with levels last measured in 2021, marking the first decrease in nearly a decade.  

The figures, released yesterday as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, reflect significant progress on reducing unwanted sexual contact amid a series of Defense Department reforms aimed at tackling the issue.  

Rates of unwanted sexual contact affecting active-component women decreased from 8.4% to 6.8% between 2021 and 2023. Rates of unwanted sexual contact affecting active-component men appeared to also decrease from 1.5% to 1.3% but the change was not statistically significant. 

In total, nearly 7,000 fewer service members experienced sexual assault in 2023 than in 2021, according to DOD estimates.  ..."

From the report:

"... Based on these rates, the Department estimates that about 29,061 active duty Service members (15,201 active duty women and 13,860 active duty men) experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in the year prior to being surveyed, which is a decrease of 19 percent from the 35,875 active duty Service

members (19,255 active duty women and 16,620 active duty men) estimated to have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in the 2021 survey.

A greater proportion of Service members reported their incident of sexual assault in 2023. In Fiscal Year 2023, the Military Services received 7,266 sexual assault reports from active duty Service members for an incident they experienced during military service. Based on 2023 survey prevalence rates, this indicates a reporting rate of 25 percent. In other words, about 1 in 4 Service members reported their sexual assault to a Department of Defense authority. This estimate is up

from the 1 in 5 Service members estimated to have reported their incident of sexual assault in Fiscal Year 2021. ... "

DOD Report: Prevalence of Sexual Assault Declined Across Services in 2023 > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News

SAPRO Reports

Credits: Report: Sexual assault in US military declines for first time in 8 years, from 8,924 to 8,515

Released female Gaza hostage breaks silence on Hamas sexual violence in Gaza

We still have not learnt about the whole truth of the mass massacre committed by the cowardly killers of Hamas!

Like barbarians, they also used sexual violence against women and teenagers!

Muslims and Arabs around the world should be absolutely appalled and disgusted about what happened on October 7!

"Sheryl Sandberg spoke of global silence on sexual violence used by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and beyond in a CNN interview on Monday night, discussing the completion of her new documentary, Screams Before Silence.

Sandberg, an American philanthropist and former technology executive known for her fight for equality opportunities for women, unveiled her new documentary based on gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas this week. Her documentary included the testimony of released hostage Agam Goldstein-Almog.

Goldstein-Almog was only 17 years old when she was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She watched as her father and older sister were both brutally murdered by the intruders before being rounded up and taken into Gaza with her mother and two younger brothers. ..."

Released Gaza hostage breaks silence on Hamas sexual violence in Gaza - The Jerusalem Post "People denied and refused to admit that such acts were indeed committed by Hamas, and therefore the film will give them an opportunity to see with their own eyes," Sandberg said.

SHERYL SANDBERG at the memorial site of the October 7 Hamas massacre of young Israelis attending the Supernova party at Re'im

Häusliche Gewalt gegen Männer: Die blauen Flecken hat er überschminkt

Über das Thema wird viel zu wenig berichtet! Wieviele Männer leiden unter Frauen in einer Beziehung! Die Dunkelziffer könnte hoch sein!

Häusliche Gewalt gegen Männer: Ein Mann erzählt, wie er Hilfe fand Auch Männer werden in Partnerschaften misshandelt. Ein Betroffener erzählt, warum er sich lange nicht als Opfer erkannt hat – und wie er es nach neun Jahren endlich schaffte, sich zu befreien.

Exposing the spiritual healers sexually exploiting women in Sudan

Very recommendable! However, this investigative journalism went a bit too far e.g. by directly confronting the alleged perpetrator.

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

Can you think of a way to reduce "“war's oldest, most silenced, and least-condemned crime,” says Pramila Patten, UNFPA sexual violence in conflict special representative." (Source)

How about recruiting more women into the military and arming more women for self defense?

"There are no winners among countless casualties in armed conflict, not least the women and girls victimized by militants who have weaponized sexual violence as a tactic of war, torture and terrorism. 

The General Assembly’s 2015 resolution proclaimed 19 June as a day to condemn and call for the end of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy and enforced sterilization and to honour victims, survivors and those fighting to end these most horrific of crimes. ..."

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict