IPV Against Men

This topic was discussed in Chapter 7 of our textbook, "Heavy Hands" by Denise Kindschi Gosselin (2010). I took a particular interest in it because it is so rarely discussed, researched or advocated for. There are estimates that it occurs about as often as violence against women. People don't acknowledge it, very few people know about it and there are very limited resources. One huge issue with that is that it creates a more hostile environment for victims to come forward and when they do there's not a lot of help.

I found an article "Partner violence against heterosexual and gay men: Prevalence and correlates" (Nowinski and Bowen, 2011). I chose this article because it talks about intimate partner violence against men from their female partners and it shows many studies that have found that men and women face very similar amounts of intimate partner violence.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3WxJEAv0d0uajExVWZqc2pUYUNwbFplYmpHTWhUZw/edit

I retrieved this picture off of Google Images and couldn't imagine a picture more appropriate for this topic.

The video I chose is a commercial on domestic violence against men that I found very informative and to the point.

Finding websites on this topic that were objective and honest about the prevalence and concerns of violence against men wasn't too easy. One that I decided to share is from the Mayo Clinic (2011). This website talked about the signs for male victims or domestic violence. I think this is very important to share because men and women need to understand that men and abused and how it is happening. Sometimes I think men are abused and in some situations the victim and perpetrator may not even realize it. I think that could happen with both sexes but I think it's more common with men as victims.


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/domestic-violence-against-men/MY00557

The second website was the website for the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women (2012). I thought it was very important and encouraging to see that an organization recognizes and specializes in helping male victims in domestic violence. They also include women and people of any sexual orientation. It is important to them that they do not discriminate in providing help to everyone since men are so often discriminated against in finding help for domestic violence.

http://dahmw.org/

I found a news article titled "A Hidden Crime: Domestic Violence Against Men Is a Growing Problem" on the Daily Finance website (2010).The article was extremely interesting. It talked about some high profile cases of abuse against men and it discussed some issues beyond the actual abuse like the lack of research, problems with reporting and the costs.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/01/30/a-hidden-crime-domestic-violence-against-men-is-a-growing-probl/

The song I chose is "And then you kissed me" by The Cardigans. I chose this song because it is about domestic violence and of the songs I could think of, it seemed as gender neutral as possible. This video (2008) along with the lyrics listed below (2003) talk about a cycle of abuse like we've studied in our class. Of course, I would have preferred a song about male victimization but that seems to be very hard to come by

And Then You Kissed Me

Man, I've had a few

But they wouldn't quite blow me like you

You gave me your name and signed

With a halo around my eye

And it hit me like never before

That love is a powerful force

Yes, it struck me that love is a sport

So I pushed you a little bit more

Love, you're news to me

You're a little bit more than I thought you'd be

A mole in my well-fed lawn

You're a nightmare beating the dawn

Oh, it hit me like never before

That love is a powerful force

Yes, it struck me that love is sport

So I pushed you a little bit more

Blue, blue, black and blue

Red blood sticks like glue

True love is cruel love

Red blood's a power fuel

Sweet love, tasty blood

My heart over floods

Oh you hit me

Yeah, you hit me really hard

Man, you hit me

Yeah you hit me right in the heart

Lord, I've had my deal

But I never quite knew how it feels

When love makes you wake up sore

With fists that are ready for more

And it hit me that love is a game

Like in war no one can be blamed

Yes, it struck me that love is a sport

So I pushed you a little bit more

Oh, blue, blue, black and blue

Red blood sticks like glue

True love is cruel love

Red blood's a power fuel

Sweet love tasted blood

My heart over floods

Man, you hit me

Yeah you hit me really hard

Baby, you hit me

Yeah you punched me right in the heart

And then you kissed me

And then you hit me

And then you kissed me

And then you hit me

Oh, you haunt me with your violent heartbeat at night

Oh, you strike me with your silence baby, tonight

Why you haunt me with your violence baby, come hit me

You haunt me with your violent heartbeat

© STOCKHOLM SONGS AB;