The media and male victim-survivors of domestic abuse

Burrell, Stephen; Dhir, Alishya

Abstract

There are a number of widely held myths about male victim-survivors of domestic abuse, which the media can play a significant role in reinforcing - or challenging. This includes ideas such as that male victim-survivors don’t exist at all; that they exist in equal numbers to female victim-survivors; that all male victims are abused by women; that abuse isn’t harmful to men; or that domestic abuse is ‘worse’ for male victim-survivors than for women. This chapter will utilise findings from a study conducted with the UK Men's Advice Line to explore the experiences of male victim-survivors of domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. This involved anonymously observing 344 calls and e-mail exchanges with the helpline. In the chapter, we consider how these findings map onto media reports about male victim-survivors. We provide recommendations, informed by existing feminist research on media reporting of violence and abuse, for how the media can tell the stories of male victim-survivors as accurately and sensitively as possible, in ways which move beyond limited and harmful myths. For instance, it perpetuates unhealthy stereotypes about masculinity to suggest that men cannot be seriously impacted by domestic abuse. However, it also obfuscates the gendered dynamics underpinning the problem to fixate excessively on male victim-survivors and female perpetrators. Holistically, there are both similarities and differences in how men and women experience domestic abuse. It is integral that these complexities are understood and addressed by the media in order to provide respectful and honest insights into victim-survivors’ varied experiences.

Citation

Burrell, S., & Dhir, A. (2023). The media and male victim-survivors of domestic abuse. In K. Boyle, & S. Berridge (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence (34-43). Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003200871-5

• Online Publication Date: Aug 25, 2023
• Publication Date: Aug 25, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 4, 2023
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 34-43
• Book Title: The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence
• Chapter Number: 2
• ISBN: 9781032061368
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003200871-5
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1757024