Gender-based violence: These men beaten by their wives ...

At the same time they lie about their marital exploits, many men are, in reality, abused within their own household. A taboo that deserves to be brought to light for better cohesion in households.

Last week's news was marked by a video that went viral on social networks and which showed a man – presented as a university professor- who beat his wife. It was an opportunity to relaunch the perennial problem of violence against women. Beyond the legal consequences of this video, the President of the Republic had a meeting with the deputies, Thursday 23 September 2021, during which he recalled his line of conduct in relation to the repression against offenses based on gender. And bref, he advocates zero tolerance towards anyone who commits any form of violence against women, whether these are in a relationship of subordination as is the case at school or whether it concerns the marital context.

When we talk about gender-based violence, we automatically see battered women. But in reality, the question concerns both genders. In fact even, there are many men who suffer such acts. Only, it remains a taboo. The humiliated and even beaten man wallows in silence, out of shame of ridicule. The few men who take the courage to denounce their partner to the authorities in charge of repression are sometimes treated with disdain..

In Benin, there are no statistics on the issue. Elsewhere, surveys were carried out to understand the extent. So, in Cameroon, a study dating from 2008 revealed that only 3% men dare to file a complaint for violence against them in the household. The man who spits water and, according to the living environment and safety survey (CVS) made in 2019, more than a quarter – 28 % – self-declared victims of physical and/or sexual domestic violence are men. More, in another study carried out in Geneva, Switzerland in 2008, the authors urge caution regarding the reported number of men victims of violence. “How do you expect a man received at a police station by two very virile guys to announce that he is getting beaten up at home? ? There is a story of pride and shame there..

Violence against men in the home takes several forms, the most extreme being caning. The most recorded forms are verbal violence, which accounts for almost half of the cases.. Next comes economic violence, psychological and moral violence, murder, etc.

Very often, the man victim of his wife’s violence reacts without control, most often by beating the woman or by returning the blows he receives which means that he finds himself locked in a trap. Of victims, he becomes the executioner once the complaint is filed by the woman. No one has the right to take justice into their own hands… we remind them. Some men simply abandon their home or take refuge with another woman, which is actually not a real solution to their problem.

It is essential to carry out an in-depth study to identify this problem of men victims of domestic violence in order to identify its contours and provide solutions.. Because as long as one in the household will be perpetually frustrated, the courts will only settle the effects and not the causes.

Pierre MATCHOUDO