To date research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has focused on the experience of females. The limited studies on male IPV survivors have shown that they are less likely to disclose their IPV experiences. Systemic biases may marginalize and silence male IPV survivors.
The current study sought to explore the discourse around perceived systemic biases that may be present for male IPV survivors.
A widely used social networking site (http://www.reddit.com/) was scraped for submissions relating to male IPV. Search was carried out using three keywords resulting in 917 submissions, out of which 82 met inclusion criteria. Submissions were included in final analysis if they consisted of more than half a page of data pertaining to male IPV. Thematic content analysis was utilized to analyze the data.
Responses reflect common experiences with participants identifying multiple sources of perceived systemic biases: (1) social norms, (2) legal system, (3) social services, (4) media, and (5) government.
The sources of potential support for male IPV survivors exhibit substantial pervasive biases against males as victims of IPV. Findings from current study can inform policies across multiple systems.
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