BATTERED MEN: The Untold Story

With the number of reported incidents concerning battered women, it is not often that one hears of stories about battered men.
This is not because it does not happen, but that men in the American society do not report it. Throughout history, a man’s masculinity is very valuable, therefore reporting such acts is threatening this precious virtue.
Here on the Bluff the mighty men of the “Jaguar Nation” feel they have far too much pride to be abused,nevertheless report it if that was the case. In a mini-survey of men and women students on campus, the number of men abused was a shocking reality to students.
Accounts of male students in the engineering and accounting departments, who wish to remain anonymous, disclose that if they were abused they would not report it. They said reporting the abuse would compromise their manhood.
When female students in the mass communications and education departments were asked the question, “Do you or someone you know believe that abusing men is okay?” Many replied along the lines of feeling that it is just as bad for a woman to abuse a man as it is for a man to abuse a woman. On the other hand some female students feel as though a woman’s abuse does not compare to the abuse of a man.
When those same male students were asked, “If they were abused by a woman, how would they respond?” the majority said that they would not hit a woman back, but instead would try to ignore it and walk away. In some cases other male students said, “If she is strong enough to hit like a man then she is strong enough to be hit like a man.”
Though the men of Southern University do not admit to having a problem with abuse, there are many men that are battered and admit to the problem. According to Physical Assaults by Wives, a reported 27 percent of men are affected by the abuse of their partners. Based on the results of the National Family Violence Survey, it is apparent that the reports of battered men are on the rise. Not to say that the abuse of men is on the rise, but just the number of incidents reported.
For those who are victims of abuse physically or mentally, there are a number of centers that are waiting to help.