Dr. Isaac Newman-Arthur, Medical Doctor and Clinical Psychologist, has agreed to the fact that indeed, some men are really suffering from domestic violence.
He asserted that although men are suffering this, almost everyone is silent about it. He puts this failure at the doorsteps of the media.
Speaking to Nana Yaw Odame on e.tv Ghana’s Men’s Lounge he said, “They are the voice for the nation but they’re not speaking for the men. This is an issue but we don’t talk about it and it’s happening. In some countries you may find about one out of eight men suffering abuse as others will also even put it as low as one out of three. In Ghana, some statistics may show that up to about 20% of men would have experienced some form of domestic violence in their lifetime and women may be about 30-40 but any figure you hear anywhere is under reporting.”
He explained that this is because a lot more will not report because of some situations.
“One being that, anyone who starts talking about it is perceived to be anti feminist so, once I start talking about something that has to do with men and abuse, I’m seen that it is a way to downplay the impact of abuse in women by talking about what happens in men,” he explained.
He furthered that, the second is that if you talk about it amongst men then it may be one of the ways to protect real men from owning up to some of the things they perpetrate amongst women so that kind of mindset especially in any social space makes it very difficult for that discussion to happen or for men to talk about it.
“Again too in any abusive relationship, it is likely for the man to be seen as the aggressor rather than the woman. Women are seen as only the response to a man’s aggression so now a woman’s abuse becomes self defense instead of perpetrating that of a man,” he added.
He noted that most times men are being abused too but can’t speak about it because of what they feel society will think of them.
“So based on all these arguments around it, it’s very difficult and that’s why some men are even afraid to report cases of abuse. They fear they‘ll rather be in trouble if they report as they are always seen as the stronger partner,” he said.
He advised men to do well to voice out their issues on domestic violence as much as the women in order for them to find help.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom
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