MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Informing Social ... - Amen

“SLAP”
Slap! A belt across the face with an adult hand
A beating painful; administered and planned
A lust-based love dissolves before a battered eye
Chaos causes corruption with an angry cry
Domestic Violence; Imagine if you can
But be aware; this time the victim is a man.
He reaches for help; his body limp
But some people call him ‘wimp’
Interrogation is the way
In his home he can no longer stay
The Social Worker sides with her
And calls the man a swine, a cur.
Politicians turn their back
Reminding of her sadistic whack
They avoid the issues
And jump through hoops
To avoid the wrath of the women’s groups
Amen is stronger than a man
Five thousand cases also ran
In this small island we call home
Evicted men on the streets do roam
A race of abusers have come to light
And now begins a brand new fight.
These men have nowhere else to go
For in their homes they cannot grow
We were all taught it was a sin
To retaliate and beat a woman we call kin
But there is a group for abused men
It’s based in Navan and called Amen.
By Sean O’Donoghue cited in Cleary, (2004) Letters to Amen: About Male Victims of
Domestic Abuse.
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