Artefact 1: The Blog Narrative

Topic: Domestic Violence Against Men

Does domestic violence effect men the same way it effects women ?

Domestic violence against men is an under-researched and under-recognised issue that is substantially underreported due to issues including social stigma, shame, and constructions of masculinity (Rees, 2019). In 2018/19 in the UK alone, 576,000 men were victims of domestic abuse (ManKind Initiative, 2020). My chosen article (The ASEAN Post Team, 2020) highlights how violence against men in a domestic setting is underreported on a global scale, exploring the prevalence of intimate partner violence experienced by men in the Philippines, and the problems that contribute to the lack of reports and recognition of violence against men. At present in the country, women who have been subjected to verbal or physical domestic violence are protected in law, whereas men are only protected in cases of physical violence (Yonzon Iv, 2019).

This article argues that there could be a case for more protections in law for men abused by their intimate partners. In 2004, the Philippines introduced the ‘Anti-Violence against Women and Their Children Act’, designed to define violence against women and children, provide protective measures for victims and prescribe penalties for perpetrators (NCRFW, 2004). In 2019, an amendment to this bill was proposed to protect all people from intimate partner abuse (The ASEAN Post, 2020). The bill has yet to pass; however, the bill’s author Representative Fidel Nograles spoke out in late 2020 to press for the amendment to be passed by his colleagues, especially considering the pandemic lockdowns and the subsequent increase of domestic abuse and violence on a global scale (Quismorio, 2020). 

The ASEAN Post (2020) article highlights toxic masculinity as a core reason for the underreporting of domestic violence against men. Namely, due to many men wishing to “keep it confidential” to protect their pride. Toxic masculinity can be defined as representations of ‘traditional’ masculine ideals, such as “stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression” that are generally harmful (de Boise, 2019, p. 147). This concept is often misconstrued by antifeminist critics as an anti-male attack (Harrington, 2020, pp. 4-5). However, as is clear in the ASEAN Post article, toxic masculine ideology harms men as much as it does women; it is not ‘masculinity’ that is the issue, but the behaviours associated with the ideals behind it (de Boise, 2019, p. 148).  Social stigmas surrounding masculinity and men’s concerns that they will appear “unmanly” affects men globally, meaning they often suffer in silence (Rees, 2019). The effects of such rhetoric are noted in the ASEAN Post article, as the legislation has been trivialised by media sources, referring to male victims of domestic violence in the Philippines in derogatory terms, such as under the “saya” (skirt), and as “tasuka” (afraid of wife). Yonzon Iv (2019) also notes the danger of such ignorance of victims of male violence, noting how media sources referring to it as the “Ander de Saya Bill” delegitimises the real issue.

I would therefore argue that men as victims of domestic violence in developing countries, is a significant contemporary problem that lacks proper investigation and is especially trivialised in the media.