Half of German men experiencing violence in relationships

Against the backdrop of a new study on violence in partnerships, scientists are calling for more protection centres for men affected by violence and their children, reported dpa.

So far, there are hardly any places for men seeking protection, Philipp Müller from the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) told dpa.

"In rural areas, there is virtually no help at all," he criticized.

In the KFN research project, almost 12,000 men between the ages of 18 and 69 were contacted in an online survey, 1,209 of whom took part. The researchers also conducted 16 interviews with those affected.

According to the results, more than half, namely 54% of the men surveyed had already experienced violence in a relationship in their lives. Almost 40% cited psychological violence, almost 39% cited controlling behaviour by their partner and almost 30% physical violence.

Although it was mostly supposedly minor acts such as pushing away, those affected suffered massively from the consequences of partner violence, with 66% of them feeling psychologically burdened by these experiences.

There needs to be greater social awareness of the fact that men can also be victims of violence in relationships, said Müller. However, the two sexes should not be played off against each other.

It is mainly women who suffer from violence in relationships, according to the latest situation report on domestic violence from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office.

In the area of intimate partner violence, the number of victims rose by 9.1% to 157,818 in 2022 compared to the previous year. According to the police, 80.1% of the victims were female and 78.1% of the suspected perpetrators were male.