Domestic violence: young men often victims

Men between 20 and 24 are more likely to be victims of domestic violence than women of the same age.

In the latest figures from the Home Office which cover 2007-08, 2.2% of women said their partner used minor or severe force against them over the last year compared to 2% of men. But among 20-24 year olds, 6.4% of men had been victims compared to 5.4% of women.

The official definition of partner abuse includes non-physical forms like emotional bullying. But, of course, exactly what that means is still down to individual interpretation. Women are still more likely to be physically harmed or repeatedly abused and far more likely to be killed by their partners.

Mark Brooks from the men's health charity Mankind told the BBC that the issue of male domestic abuse is often ignored by the government, social services and the police. 'In the UK as a whole there are 500 refuges for female victims and that is probably not enough. There are only 12 for male victims. Overall services for men are 35 years behind those available for women and that's simply not good enough.'

Useful resources for domestic violence include:

• MHF mini-manual
• Mankind - help and support for male victims of domestic abuse/violence
• Masa - support and counselling for adult male survivors of childhood abuse, male rape victims and male victims of domestic violence
• Respect - for men who are violent