Charity sees 33% rise in calls from abused men

A national charity for men who are victims of domestic abuse has experienced a 33% increase in the number of calls received to its helpline in the first six months of this year.

Amen Support Services, which is based in Navan, Co Meath, received some 2,427 calls from men to its confidential helpline between January and June of this year, compared with 1,829 calls in the corresponding period in 2011.

The voluntary organisation has also experienced an increase in overall “contacts” made with the service in the first six months of 2012, compared with the first six months of 2011.

These include text messages, emails, phonecalls, letters, and one-to-one meetings.

There were 2,835 contacts made with the service in the first six months of this year, compared with 2,113 contacts made in 2011.

A director of the charity, Eugene Wogan, said the rise in the number of calls received by the charity was positive, as it indicated that male victims of domestic abuse were seeking help rather than suffering in silence.

“Both men and women find it difficult to admit they are victims of domestic abuse, but in the last 20 years women have done a far better job in getting past that,” said Mr Wogan.

“Men still find it very difficult. There is still that attitude of I’m going to go down to the pub and the lads will be laughing at me. There is that fear among men that if they seek help, it will somehow rebound on them and on their children.”

Mr Wogan said he would encourage any man who found himself a victim of domestic abuse to contact the organisation.

“Voicing something that has been bothering you for some time actually helps… Get help and you will get through it.”

He expressed concern that over 500 calls made to the helpline in the first six months of the year went unanswered.

“We are grateful for the funding we get, but we are seriously under-funded. We can only provide a nine to five, Monday to Friday service at present. We’d be hopeful of being able to expand that service in the future.”

Figures released by the charity for 2011 indicate that there were 4,303 contacts made with the service over the course of 2011, including 3,655 phonecalls.

About 38% of men reported verbal abuse, 24% of clients reported physical abuse and some 37.5% reported psychological abuse.

More than 2,000 clients were from the Dublin, the North-East, and the mid-Leinster regions.

About 400 clients were from the South of the country and a further 372 were from the West of Ireland.

* www.amen.ie