According to the Office for National Statistics, one in three victims of domestic abuse in the UK is male, accounting for 757,000 men. There is also a large and growing body of scientific evidence showing that men are as likely to experience partner abuse as women. Despite this knowledge, male victims are often marginalised in terms of service provision, societal acknowledgement and especially public policy/guidance. Male victims are officially classed by the UK Government as being victims of “Violence Against Women and Girls” crimes, for example.

Speakers

Professor Nicola Graham-Kevan – Director at Criminal Justice Partnership & Professor of Criminal Justice Psychology.

Mark Brook OBE – Chair of Mankind Initiative

Dr Liz Bates – Senior Lecturer of Applied Psychology at Cumbria University

Dr Denise Hines – Associate Professor at George Mason University, Boston.

Deborah Powney – PhD Candidate Psychology, UCLan.

Coercive control became a criminal offence in the UK in 2015. Encompassing psychological, sexual, financial and economic abuse, this crime is defined as:

"Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.” CPS 2017

This online dissemination event, held by the Criminal Justice Partnership, University of Central Lancashire, in conjunction with Mankind Initiative and Research England, will present the UK data from two recent international studies (Powney, Graham-Kevan & Willan 2020; Graham-Kevan & Powney, 2020) examining the types, levels and impact of coercive control as experienced by male victims.

The results show that not only do male victims experience coercive control in similar ways to women they also endure specific types of abuse because they are men. This report will help to demonstrate the need to include the experiences of male victims when considering service provision/responses, public policy, statutory guidance and in domestic abuse research more widely. This will support more men in coming forward, better funded by public services and more societal awareness – leading to more men and their children being able to escape and rebuild their lives.

Male Victims of Coercive Control