Men as Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: A First Approach to the Experience of Students in Durango, México

Abstract

The experience of men as victims of intimate partner violence has been explored to a lesser degree. Little is known about the characteristics and circumstances in which they experience this phenomenon. This study aimed at estimating the presence (at least once) and recurrence (twice or more) of psychological, physical, sexual, and economic violence against men. In addition, it includes comparisons in terms of some sociodemographic variables. We addressed this subject by ausing random, stratified, and cluster sampling. We designed a survey and applied it to 232 men who studied at a public university in Durango, Mexico. Of these men, 95% had suffered intimate partner violence at least once, and 69 % in a recurrent pattern. Some of them (6.7 %) were fathers, which was related to economic violence (presence: prevalence ratio, pr=2.30 [1.35-3.94]; recurrence pr=3.31 [1.8-5.55]) and sexual violence (presence pr= 2.60 [1.60-4.21]; recurrence pr=3.53 [1.90-5.92]). The proportion of harmed men reported in this work is higher than in other studies. The results support the idea of the need for awareness, prevention, and attention programs focused on abused men.