Japan's Battered Men Suffer abuse in Silence - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages The study also indicated that, the reported cases of men were however; lower in number as compared to those of women. The research showed that, despite the indifference in the number of reports, both men and women were similarly agonizing on the issue of marital abuse. Police and hospital surveys carried out showed percentages of men and women battered during a certain period as being 82% and 96% respectively (Cook, 2009, P. 3). Evidently, the gap between these two statistics is very small as compared to the case reported by the media. This was an indication that not all the battery cases involving men had been reported. The law in many countries differentiates battery from assault though both are considered to be crimes. Statistics taken also showed that the percentage representing women cases also include many assault cases. Thus, while women will go ahead and report assault cases to the authorities, very few men, if not none, were noted to report assault cases. In fact, most of the cases reported by men were fatal and most involved injuries. Most men therefore, will prefer to suffer in silence, than to report their cases to the authorities. Due to lack of reporting, the male spousal abuse has been being disregarded, ignored or downplayed (Cook, 2009, P. 17). Background In Japan, the issue of wife battering is so rampant and of concern in the whole country. With recent findings showing that approximately 33% of married women in Japan suffered from domestic violence, the findings did not give a percentage of the men suffering from the same issue. Again, the men in Japan too do not report their abuse cases and hence, the authorities are likely to turn a blind eye to such cases (Leeder, 2003). The background of abuse of men in Japan was mainly reported to be the fact that most of these men did not control their partners and were therefore, likely to be controlled in turn. The issue was also reported to be on the increase due to the fact that the English press has been ignoring it a great deal. A private research once conducted showed that while the press was reporting 33% of the married women involved in spousal violence, it did not report the 20% number of men who suffered in their marriages. While the same press was reporting 14% of women who were coerced into sexual relationships, it did not give the 4% of men who were bullied to engage into the same by women. The English press also finalized its report by indicating that 40% of the Japanese women still suffered from marital violence in silence. The report on the other hand, did not account for the 76% of men who had suffered in silence too, despite their percentage being higher. The neglect of men’s abuse cases has therefore, also served as a key root of the increase in their suffering. With no one being aware of their agony, there has been no action being taken against those who cause this and thus, the issue continues to rise with time (Cook, 2009, P. 16). Current State of Affairs The current Japan however, has had its eyes opened to many hidden incidences that take place in the society without the knowledge of the public. A report by the Japan Times newspaper indicated the press had previously ignored spousal violence against men due to the fact that, the purpose of the government bureau formed in Japan was to protect women and not men. However, with violence reports against women being on ...Download file to see next pagesRead More