SAFE BlogArchive

A 32-nation study of violence against dating partners by university partners found that about a third had been violent, and most incidents of partner violence involve violence by both the man and woman, according to Murray Straus, founder and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. The second largest category was couples where the female partner was the only one to carry about physical attacks, not the male partner.

In the paper, Straus calls for an end to the focus on men as the only perpetrators of dating violence, saying the refusal to recognize the multi-causal nature of the problem is hampering the effort to end domestic violence and ignoring half the perpetrators. As recently as December 2005, the National Institute of Justice refused to consider applications for funding that dealt with male victims.

“Changes in policy that acknowledge men are not the only perpetrators of partner violence are needed immediately,” Straus said. “It is time to make the prevention and treatment effort one that is aimed at ending all family violence, including spanking children, not just violence against women.”

Straus is the author or co-author of more than 200 publications, including "Beating the Devil Out Of Them: Corporal Punishment By American Parents and Its Effects on Children." More information on the International Dating Violence Study and papers reporting results are available at
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/

SAFE-NH is encouraged that such an expert in the field of family violence has verified what we as direct service providers to victims of intimate partner and family violence have been experiencing.

We hope that Dr. Straus's work will help to change perspectives so that these issues will be seen as human issues and not issues of gender. We hope so for the sake of men and women today and their children who will be the men and women of tomorrow!

Lee Newman
Executive Director: SAFE-NH
Stop Abuse For Everyone-New Hampshire

This article features Stanley Green, a speaker for Stop Abuse For Everyone:

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