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Specific laws against domestic
violence as a crime is rare in Nigeria until lately when we had the Violence
Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) – 2015 and Protection Against Domestic Violence
Laws (PADVL) - 2017 (Law of Lagos State) among others.
These laws are promulgated to
protect every person against domestic violence regardless of their gender.
However, the perception of the society and the law enforcement agencies with
regard to male victims of women perpetrated domestic violence seems to be
different. The unfortunate effect of this biased attitude against the men victims
are based on stereotype belief system. For instance, men were viewed as the
breadwinner who would enforce and maintain control in the household, whereas
women took the role of nurturer. These stereotypical views are instilled in
society and reflected repeatedly by the media so people are reluctant to
believe women could perpetrate violence as men are the dominant sex.
In addition, the historical
sources of our British Colonial Masters show that gender roles were defined
before the public notion of patriarchy came to the forefront of beliefs using
the “Skimington” and the idea of “riding the donkey backwards.” In his book
“Riding the Donkey Backwards: Men as the Unacceptable Victims of Marital
Violence” first published in November, 1994, Malcolm J. George stated that men
who were found to be beaten by their wives were publicly humiliated to conform
to societies roles that they are the dominant sex and women are subordinate
(George 2002: 118). This had the effect of repressing male victims, therefore
it is these views that keep male victims invisible.
The belief that men are viewed as
the perpetual perpetrators, while the women are viewed as
always the victims creates a gender issue based on stereotypes. However, Erin
Prizzey, a well-known feminist who founded the first refuge for domestically
abused women, believes that violence is not a gender issue because in her point
of view violence is due to a dysfunctional background which both men and women
can experience in their youth, thus implying domestic violence as a
family/societal issue. Prizzey later wrote that out of the “first 100 women who
came to the refuge, 61 were as violent as the men they had left” (www.parity.uk.org 2007) thus suggesting
gender symmetry between men and women.
Although one of the main debates
associated with domestic violence is that which believes in “gender asymmetry”
where men are more frequently perpetrators of the violence than the women. Even
at this, the fact that women are also perpetrators of the violence (regardless
of the proportion), is a sufficient basis to give the men the benefit of the doubt
whenever they report abuse experience from their female partners.
Throughout history, society has
repressed male victims, creating an anti-man culture surrounding domestic
violence. However, if we continue to “over-protect” the woman at the expense of
the man the much needed global happy family may continue to elude the world.
Government institutions and
agencies should be dealing with domestic abuse as a “human issue” where all
victims, regardless of gender are entitled to help and support. They should not
be discriminating between genders.
Consider this scenario: It could
be generally observed that the crime of armed robbery is “more prevalent” among
the men than the women. However, the law enforcement agencies and the society
at large would not overlook a female armed robber on the perception that a
woman cannot or rarely engage in armed robbery.
- “Broken Men Break the Silence” – Male
Domestic Violence Victims and their Struggle to be Heard – Katie Lambert
- www.mankind.org.uk
- “Riding the Donkey Backwards”: Men as
the Unacceptable Victims of Marital Violence – Malcolm J. George
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