To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that specialist support services are available to support men experiencing domestic violence and abuse.
Answered on
9 September 2019
Domestic abuse is a devastating crime and the Government is committed to doing everything we can to tackle it. We absolutely recognise that domestic abuse affects men as well as women. We have also published a dedicated male victims position statement to recognise the needs of male victims and to clarify and strengthen our response.
We know that victims’ individual needs must be at the centre of service provision, including through an understanding of their gender and sexual orientation, which is why we have provided specific funding just to male victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, including:
- £500,000 to improve support to male victims of domestic abuse;
- Funding for the Men’s Advice Line which provides support and advice to male victims of domestic abuse;
- Funding to Galop which provides advice and support to LGBT populations affected by domestic abuse;
- Funding for a number of LGBT-focused projects
- £452,000 from the Ministry of Justice to 12 organisations in England and Wales to provide services for male victims of rape and sexual violence;
- MoJ has provided £194,000 funding for a national online service for men and £100,000 for the male rape telephone helpline pilot so that male victims of rape and sexual violence are able to access support and information through other channels.
We have also committed to conducting a review of the National Statement of Expectations and its impact on the local commissioning of male support services, and to improving the gender breakdown of Crown Prosecution Service and police data to better understand the numbers of male victims of domestic abuse who engage with the criminal justice system.