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

cases where the children did give evidence of the abuse against their father, the men
gained custody of their children.
The consensus of the group was that if their partner/spouse were granted any of the
orders available it was automatically assumed by social workers and the members of
the Gardai that the man was at fault, and that it was thought that it was the man’s
violence against the woman that was the reason for the order.
7. What are the experiences of male victims of domestic violence with social work
practice?
The members of the focus group had very strong feelings towards social workers.
They were very angry about the way their situations have been dealt with by the
social workers involved. They were concerned with the fact that the social workers
involved in their cases were very inexperienced and did not seem to be willing to
consider their might be another side to the story, i.e. violence against the man.
One of the men’s partner/spouse was in contact with social workers without his
knowledge. Once he did became aware of their involvement, he tried to contact the
social workers on several occasions to make them aware of his side of the story, but
to no avail. When he made contact with the social workers, he was told that his
partner/spouse had made allegations of violence against him, (this was still ongoing
at the time of the focus group). At the time his partner/spouse and children were
staying at a women’s aid refuge centre. He has found from dealing with social
workers, in this instance, that he is dealing with two very young girls and he feels
that they are anti-men. He also feels that they have not, to his knowledge,
investigated any of the issues that he has brought up in relation to his wife’s nonsuitability
as the main carer of his children. This is based on the fact that his
partner/spouse has been violent towards him in front of the children. He also stated
that his wife suffers from alcoholism and has a conviction for being drunk while
driving. At the time the children were in the car.
A main concern for the men was the response they received from social workers.
The men felt they were not believed, that the social workers involved believed
57