German state expands protection for male victims of intimate partner violence

Submitted by Douglas on Mon, 2022-02-28 02:17

MANNdat report (in German) is here. Translated article:

While the 14th female family minister in a row, Anne Spiegel (Greens) makes male victims of violence invisible in the usual way, one has to descend from the federal to the state level in the search for progressive approaches and then finds them - unexpectedly - with female equality ministers of the CDU.

The government of North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU/FDP) wants to expand its commitment to protecting male victims of intimate partner violence. At the beginning of this year, the number of sheltered places is set to double to 16. Equal Opportunities Minister Ina Scharrenbach (CDU):

  • "We had around 9,800 male victims as part of intimate partner violence in 2020, which was a significant increase compared to 2019."

The gender bias among male victims of domestic violence and especially of intimate partner violence is enormous. Although unreported studies since the 1970s have indicated that men are victims of intimate partner violence just as much as women are, this is still marginalised . But how could it be otherwise with family ministers like Anne Spiegel, for whom a gender-neutral language is more important than protecting male family members from violence.

As of the beginning of 2020 , there were around 350 women's shelters and 40 women's advice centres in Germany with around 6,800 beds. On the other hand, there were 2 men's houses and 5 advice centres for men with a total of just 17 places. That's not even 1/3 of the 55 places that are available for women in Saarland alone.

A comparison shows : In May 2020, more than 150,000,000 euros spent on protecting women against violence compared to less than 400,000 euros spent on protecting men against violence.

Already at the beginning of 2021, after only one year, the help line for men in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria was expanded due to the great demand:

  • "Violence against men is still a big taboo subject that the offer of help aims to break through. And the great demand shows that the need is 'absolutely there'."

In April 2021, Baden-Württemberg also joined the offer of help.

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