According to the Government of Canada, “Almost equal
proportions of men and women (7 percent and 8 percent
respectively) had been the victims of intimate partner
physical and psychological abuse”

Domestic and Sexual Abuse

Ithough women are often the priority in discussions

about cases of domestic and sexual abuse, men are
also often abused. In fact, according to the Canadian
Centre for Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse,
one in six men have been sexually assaulted in their
lifetime. This number may even be underrepresented
given the nature of how unreported sexual assault
cases are. This is especially the case for men as the
Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services reports,
stating that that male sexual abuse cases are even
more unreported than women’s. This is because most
men who go through sexual assault don’t report it or
talk about it with people out of fear of being ridiculed,
shamed, disbelieved, ignored, called weak, or have their
sexuality questioned. Male survivors also fear being
blamed for the attack because they were not manly or
macho enough to stop or protect themselves from it. On
a similar note, according to the Canadian Department
of Justice, “The idea of masculinity includes physical
strength, being in control, always wanting and being
ready for sex, and being the perpetrator of such assaults,
never the victim.”

It’s also a harmful stereotype that men can’t be
raped because they are expected to be more sexual and
therefore want sex more, so they “probably wanted it.”
And if the perpetrator is an attractive, older woman, they
should be happy to have the experience. There is also
a lack of services and resources for male survivors of
sexual assault.

Men are also woefully underestimated in domestic
abuse cases. According to the Government of Canada,
“Almost equal proportions of men and women (7 percent
and 8 percent respectively) had been the victims of
intimate partner physical and psychological abuse (18
percent and 19 percent respectively).” Furthermore,
according to the Vancouver Sun, “26 per cent of the
British Columbians who have been killed as a result of
domestic violence have been men, according to a BC
coroner’s report. The report said that in the decade
ending in 2014, 113 BC women were killed in acts of
intimate-partner violence and 40 men.”

Child Custody

n the case of child custody battles, men are also

disproportionately represented. According to the
Canadian Department of Justice, mothers are more
likely to receive exclusive custody of children during
separation. In cases from 2006 to 2015, mothers got sole
physical custody of their kids’ 61 percent of the time
whereas men got it 10 percent of the time. In terms of
legal custody, the numbers still show an inequality for
men. This is because women are generally seen as the
better caretakers. Furthermore, “The General Social
Survey GSS (2014) reports that oftentimes the child lived
primarily with their mother (70 percent), with 15 percent
living primarily with their father.” According to a National
Post article, “Many men report that the family justice

The current narrative implies that men are the
overwhelming majority of initiators of violence. As an
article in the Toronto Sun points out, the Government of
BC gives an outline of what law enforcement should do
in cases of domestic abuse—in the Domestic Violence
Response: A Community Framework for Maximizing
Women’s Safety, it is stated that “Responses to domestic
violence should acknowledge that domestic violence is
a power-based crime in which, generally, the male in an
intimate relationship exercises power and control over
the female.” The document encourages this “gender
lens” when approaching domestic abuse. But, as the
stats show, and as Sarah Desmarais—a SFU PhD holder
in forensic psychology who studies partner violence—
agrees with, men are equally likely to suffer domestic
abuse as women.

It is true that women are more likely to suffer death
from physical harm, and as she said in an article by the
CBC, “What we do seem to find is that even though the
rates are similar, they are different in terms of their
severity and also the likelihood that they're going to
inflict injury.” She goes on to clarify that, “[Wwomen are]
usually smaller than their male partners and men are
usually using more severe forms of violence.”

Mentioned in the earlier Toronto Sun article,
researchers’ study of the Statistics Canada population
survey shows that men are just as likely to face physical
violence from their female partners in domestic disputes,
even if the outcome is different. It is certainly important
to allocate special attention to the brutalization of
women in this case of physical abuse, but it is vital
to not allow these outcomes to skew perceptions on
truth about the domestic abuse men face. There also
needs to special attention allocated to empowering and
supporting male victims of domestic abuse.

On skewed perception, Desmarais says that the
potential harms of the current view on male abuse
“Are multiple. We could be looking at a lack of services
available. [...] There are much fewer services available,
and also legal action that can be taken by a male that is
being victimized,” she said.

system is institutionally sexist, casually entertaining
false allegations while continuously ruling against them,
regardless of actual circumstances.”

The reason the Other Press believes that these
issues are so important is because of how little they are
discussed and how widely they are invalidated. Case
in point, in 2012 Simon Fraser University entertained
the idea of creating a men’s centre, but it was quickly
dismissed since “the men’s centre is everywhere else.”
This is exactly why a day like International Men’s Day
is so important and why we should all recognize its
significance. If you'd like to contribute to solving men’s
issues, the Movember Foundation is all about helping
men. =