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<span style="font-weight: bold">More men seeking refuge from abuse at home</span>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">While South Florida agencies that provide a safe haven from domestic violence primarily serve women, they are seeing more men trying to escape abusive relationships.</div></div>
Posted on Sat, Jul. 12, 2008
BY TAYLOR BARNES
[email protected]
When Broward County's only certified domestic violence shelter, Women in Distress, opened in 1974, its sole purpose was to offer beds to women. Now, shelter leaders say they see up to 15 men a year who need a safe place from domestic violence.
''Despite our name, we serve both men and women, and increasingly same-sex partners,'' said Mary Riedel, shelter president.
As shown by the shots fired earlier this week at Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley by his wife, men can be the targets of domestic violence, a crime long associated with female victims.
An estimated 5 percent of reported domestic violence victims nationwide are men, said Lt. Sherry Schlueter, who leads the Special Victims and Family Crimes section at the Broward Sheriff's Office -- where serious felony-level cases are handled.
<span style="font-weight: bold">UNKNOWN VICTIMS</span>
But Schlueter said she believes many more males are victims but are ''disinclined'' to report relationship violence in part because of ``the perception of victimization.''
Some of the South Florida numbers back that assertion. From 2003 to 2008, 642 men reported domestic violence to Schlueter's office compared to 1,532 women. In all years, the majority of domestic violence cases against a given gender were from an offender of the opposite sex.
The total number of men reporting domestic violence grew each year from 2003 to 2007, which the office said could be due in part to an expansion of the sheriff's jurisdiction.
The Lodge, a domestic violence shelter with 40 beds in Miami-Dade County, also offers shelter to male victims, said Executive Director Angela Diaz-Vidaillet.
Shelters in Miami-Dade -- Safespace and The Lodge -- have names that do not reflect the gender of the majority of domestic violence victims. Diaz-Vidaillet said that in 2004, when The Lodge was set to open, founders considered calling it ``The Women's Lodge.''
''However, we don't only serve women, so we couldn't possibly give it that name,'' she said.
Of violent crimes in general, Schlueter said, the aggressors are not just men. ``We are seeing a rise in violence perpetrated by females.''
Sherrie Schwab, chief operating officer of Women in Distress, says women are capable of being as violent as men even without a weapon. ''You don't need a gun to be violent. Small women can be very violent,'' she said.
Male victims of domestic violence seek both emergency lodging and outreach services. In the second half of 2007, the most recent period for which statistics are available, 4,020 men statewide used telephone counseling for domestic violence, compared with 52,595 women, according to the Florida Department of Children & Families.
''It was strange for me when I saw my first male victim,'' Schwab said, because the complaints he made sounded just like ones she had heard from women for years. ``It was just verbatim.''
Abuse occurs as frequently in same-sex relationships as heterosexual ones, said Brenda Levine, who directs outreach services for Women in Distress.
Within the past few weeks, the agency coordinated emergency shelter for a man who was ''quite physically abused'' by his male partner, according to Riedel, who did not disclose further details of the case for confidentiality reasons.
<span style="font-weight: bold">SEPARATED</span>
Though men contact Women in Distress, the organization does not house them alongside female victims. About five years ago, Women in Distress started partnering with local hotels and motels to provide rooms for women when they ran out of beds in the main buildings and for men who could not be housed alongside women.
Before the partnership, male victims of domestic violence stayed in Salvation Army facilities or homeless shelters, Riedel said.
Schwab said the shelter at Women in Distress is nearly always full. ''Given where we live, it can be hard at times to get a free hotel room,'' she said, adding that demand for emergency housing is greater than their supply.
``We can't meet the needs of our community.''
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">While South Florida agencies that provide a safe haven from domestic violence primarily serve women, they are seeing more men trying to escape abusive relationships.</div></div>
Posted on Sat, Jul. 12, 2008
BY TAYLOR BARNES
[email protected]
When Broward County's only certified domestic violence shelter, Women in Distress, opened in 1974, its sole purpose was to offer beds to women. Now, shelter leaders say they see up to 15 men a year who need a safe place from domestic violence.
''Despite our name, we serve both men and women, and increasingly same-sex partners,'' said Mary Riedel, shelter president.
As shown by the shots fired earlier this week at Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley by his wife, men can be the targets of domestic violence, a crime long associated with female victims.
An estimated 5 percent of reported domestic violence victims nationwide are men, said Lt. Sherry Schlueter, who leads the Special Victims and Family Crimes section at the Broward Sheriff's Office -- where serious felony-level cases are handled.
<span style="font-weight: bold">UNKNOWN VICTIMS</span>
But Schlueter said she believes many more males are victims but are ''disinclined'' to report relationship violence in part because of ``the perception of victimization.''
Some of the South Florida numbers back that assertion. From 2003 to 2008, 642 men reported domestic violence to Schlueter's office compared to 1,532 women. In all years, the majority of domestic violence cases against a given gender were from an offender of the opposite sex.
The total number of men reporting domestic violence grew each year from 2003 to 2007, which the office said could be due in part to an expansion of the sheriff's jurisdiction.
The Lodge, a domestic violence shelter with 40 beds in Miami-Dade County, also offers shelter to male victims, said Executive Director Angela Diaz-Vidaillet.
Shelters in Miami-Dade -- Safespace and The Lodge -- have names that do not reflect the gender of the majority of domestic violence victims. Diaz-Vidaillet said that in 2004, when The Lodge was set to open, founders considered calling it ``The Women's Lodge.''
''However, we don't only serve women, so we couldn't possibly give it that name,'' she said.
Of violent crimes in general, Schlueter said, the aggressors are not just men. ``We are seeing a rise in violence perpetrated by females.''
Sherrie Schwab, chief operating officer of Women in Distress, says women are capable of being as violent as men even without a weapon. ''You don't need a gun to be violent. Small women can be very violent,'' she said.
Male victims of domestic violence seek both emergency lodging and outreach services. In the second half of 2007, the most recent period for which statistics are available, 4,020 men statewide used telephone counseling for domestic violence, compared with 52,595 women, according to the Florida Department of Children & Families.
''It was strange for me when I saw my first male victim,'' Schwab said, because the complaints he made sounded just like ones she had heard from women for years. ``It was just verbatim.''
Abuse occurs as frequently in same-sex relationships as heterosexual ones, said Brenda Levine, who directs outreach services for Women in Distress.
Within the past few weeks, the agency coordinated emergency shelter for a man who was ''quite physically abused'' by his male partner, according to Riedel, who did not disclose further details of the case for confidentiality reasons.
<span style="font-weight: bold">SEPARATED</span>
Though men contact Women in Distress, the organization does not house them alongside female victims. About five years ago, Women in Distress started partnering with local hotels and motels to provide rooms for women when they ran out of beds in the main buildings and for men who could not be housed alongside women.
Before the partnership, male victims of domestic violence stayed in Salvation Army facilities or homeless shelters, Riedel said.
Schwab said the shelter at Women in Distress is nearly always full. ''Given where we live, it can be hard at times to get a free hotel room,'' she said, adding that demand for emergency housing is greater than their supply.
``We can't meet the needs of our community.''
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