NCJ Number
236471
Date Published
2011
Length
109 pages
Annotation
This study examined the characteristics of violence experienced by men in Finland and compares it with that experienced by women.
Abstract
Of the 1,918 Finnish men, ages 15-74 surveyed for this study, 55 percent had experienced violence or threats since the age of 15. In the course of the last 12 months, 16 percent of men had been victims of violence or threats. The victimization experiences of the men were dominated by physical violence; 47 percent of the men had experienced physical violence after their 15th birthday. Men were most often victims of violence committed by strangers (42 percent since the age of 15 and 10 percent over the last 12 months). Sexual violence against men was rare. Since their 15th birthday, 25 percent of the men had been victims of violence by a person known to them; in the last 12 months, this had happened to 5 percent of the men. Assailants known to the victims included acquaintances, friends, family members, intimate partners, and ex-partners. The perpetrators of violence against men were almost always other men in both categories (since their 15th birthday and during the last 12 months). Violence committed by intimate partners was equally common among men and women; however, women had experienced more threats and sexual violence in an intimate partner relationship. Men had experienced violence from an ex-partner much less often than women (22 percent compared to 42 percent). Men received physical injuries from violence by strangers much more often than women; however, in the other perpetrator categories, women had received injuries more often than men, particularly from intimate-partner violence. Although men were not worried about their personal safety, 22 percent of them were worried about their family members or close friends being physically attacked by strangers. Extensive tables and figures, 67 references, and appended survey questionnaire