The problems of men as a group that suffers from violence are still the least discussed of all.
During the 5 months of paralegals’ work with the Foundation, 1871 cases of appeals from vulnerable groups were processed. Of these, 160 were related to violence: 153 appeals from women, and only 4 from men.
Three of these four cases of violence against men were related to the victim’s sexual orientation.
And one case concerned violence against a man by his relatives.
Only 4 cases out of 160: does this mean that men suffer from violence less than women? Hardly.
In fact, such statistics show that stereotypes about “real men” and “boys who don’t cry” are still strong in society.
Violence against men: statistics of the National Police
The data from the National Police of Ukraine only confirms the trend that violence against men is statistically invisible due to stereotypes of men themselves.
Iryna Zalialova is the head of the Gender Equality Monitoring and Coordination of Combating Domestic Violence Department of the Human Rights Compliance Unit of the National Police of Ukraine. She says that out of 52,906 confirmed reports of violence, only 10,831 were filed by men.
– Because of the established stereotypes in society that men should be strong, ashamed to ask for help, and need to solve their problems on their own they are much less likely to go to the police than women in the event of domestic violence against them,” says Iryna.
How can these problems be prevented?
1. Apply for legal aid by calling the contact center of the FLA system at the toll-free number 0 800 213 103.
2. If you are a member of one of the vulnerable groups and have a legal problem, you can contact the paralegals involved in the Foundation’s project through the communities. Or you can get legal advice anonymously through a specialized chat at https://t.me/vulnerableua_bot.
3. To seek support, call the UN Foundation’s free anonymous and round-the-clock hotline at 2345 or find out more details at http://2345.in.ua
The Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation implements the project “Paralegal Assistance to Victims of Discrimination, in particular to Victims of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence” with the support of “100% Life” – PLWH Network
