It’s not only women who suffer from domestic violence. Brace yourself for this shocking statistic – one man dies from domestic violence every 3 weeks.
With 4 million men affected by domestic violence every year, the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) decided to do something about it – by launching a campaign to create awareness. The campaign will run from the 1st – 8th March 2010, and encourage all men suffering in silence to come forward.
This campaign will be backed by the advertising giants JWT who will provide TV & Print advertising for maximum recognition. Phillip Meyler from JWT, understands that many men find it uncomfortable to even think about the abuse they endure, let alone voice it. He had this to say:
“Thousands of men are victims of domestic abuse each year, a subject that men naturally find very hard to talk about.”
When people think of domestic violence they assume it only means physical violence, but this is not true. Domestic violence can also be psychological and emotional abuse. Domestic violence makes up 25% of UK crime, and now police are receiving calls every three minutes from male sufferers.
The NCDV have helped thousands of sufferers already, who can now move on with their lives without the fear of abuse. Allan Vythelingum was a long-suffering victim of domestic violence, but with the help of NCDV he gained an injunction against his wife to stop the abuse. Allan comments, ” I’ve never had an experience like this before, my wife was both physically and mentally abusive to me. I have been threatened and attacked. It got to the stage when I had to think about my children, they became my focus. The NCDV helped me get an injunction in December last year and I now have custody of my children.”
If you’re going through abuse, regardless of your financial circumstance, race, gender or sexual orientation, NCDV are there to help. The service allows anyone to apply for an emergency injunction within 24 hours of first contact.
Support the campaign, let’s put domestic violence to a stop.
Words by Melissa Lewars.