Domestic violence: One in five victims is a man!

  Links to the original articles: Part1   Part2

Violence by women against men is much more common in Switzerland than previously assumed. In marriage and partnerships, 20 percent of victims of violence are men. Graphic: az

The figures presented by the Federal Statistical Office for 2009 are shocking. For the first time, the office has used police data to evaluate the number of male and female victims of domestic violence. The evaluation is available to “Sunday”. According to this, in 31 percent of cases of murder or attempted murder, the victim is a man and the perpetrator is a woman. For serious bodily harm it is 21 percent and for simple bodily harm 17 percent. Overall, the proportion of women committing violent crimes in relationships is 20 percent.

In fact, the value is even higher. “The police statistics only record official cases. The effective proportion, taking into account the number of unreported cases, is much higher," says Oliver Hunziker, President of the Association of Responsible Fathers and Mothers (VeV). “The number of unreported cases is large, many men are ashamed,” confirms Dori Schaer-Born, President of the Berne Commission for Gender Equality. An act of violence “contradicts the male role model”. In addition, many men are “not taken seriously when they report to the police”.

There have been two contact points for a year now: in Erlenbach ZH the men's house initiated by a pastor and in Aargau the VeV fathers' house. Demand is high: both houses are well utilized.

According to the Zurich cantonal police, women's willingness to use violence has increased in recent years. “Women are more willing to be violent,” says press director Mario Cortesi.

The reasons for female aggressiveness are still little researched. «The domestic power balance has shifted: men and women are approaching a power symmetry. This makes conflicts increasingly precarious and ultimately hopeless because no one feels understood,” says couples therapist Klaus Heer. Today, men often feel at least as weak as their partners in everyday relationships: “Women react more and more in the same way as men: the more helpless they are in the event of a conflict, the more likely they are to resort to physical violence.”

According to foreign studies, the most common motives for acts of violence by women are coercion, anger and the desire to punish the partner for bad behavior, especially infidelity. Separation and divorce are considered particularly high risk factors for aggression in relationships. Jealousy, the need for power and control, but also general frustration and stress often played a role.