1 in 5 Men Admits To Hitting His Wife or Girlfriend
One in five men admits to hitting his wife or girlfriend, according to a study conducted by University of Michigan researchers, NBC News reports.
The data, taken from a larger national study, asked 500 men the following question: “Over the course of your relationship, how often have you ever done any of these things (pushed, grabbed, or shoved; threw something; slapped or hit; kicked, bit, or hit with a fist; beat up; choked; burned or scalded; threatened with a knife or gun) to your current spouse/partner?”
Nineteen percent said they had done so at least once. The interviews were face-to-face, so that figure could have been even higher had the men been given the option of answering privately, Dr. Vijay Singh, one of the researchers, noted. But the question just dealt with physical abuse. “It did not ask about emotional abuse. It did not ask about sexual abuse,” Singh said.
The data is a decade old, but it does offer a rare look into the mind of the abuser. In light of the release of video showing Ray Rice punching his then-fiance Janay Palmer unconscious in a hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., in February, one has to wonder if that 1 in 5 figure is slightly higher. In the United States alone, 30.3 percent of women have been physically abused by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according toThe National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Keep in mind that these figures are based on people willing to discuss their abuse, be they the victim or abuser. What if everyone were to come forward about their experience with intimate partner violence?
