Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
(Publication Archives)

Community Connections, Fall 2003

Husband Battering
By Helena Davis, Director, Anti-Discrimination Programs, MHANYS

According to David Gross, (1) husband battering is a problem that is not taken seriously because the facts belie the stereotype of women being passive and helpless. Even people who consider themselves as liberal and open-minded have a hard time believing that husband battering is a real problem. In addition, statistics gathered from police reports indicate that the ratio of male to female victims is between 12 and 14.5 females to one male. Data from several studies indicate that our perceptions need to be re-examined. In a 1974 study of domestic violence cases reported to police or identified by a social service agency, 47% of husbands used physical violence on their wives and 33% of wives had used violence on their husbands (Gelles 1974).

In 1977, Susan Steinmetz released data from several studies showing that the percentage of wives that had used physical violence is higher than the percentage of husbands although violence perpetrated by husbands was somewhat more likely to cause greater injury.

A 1979 telephone survey asked subjects about their domestic violence experience (Nisonoff & Bitman 1979). 15.5% of the men and 11.3% of the women reported having hit their spouse.
________
(1)”Husband Battering” by Davis Gross.
The Men’s Issue Page on The World Wide Web Virtual Library: http://www.menweb.org/throop/battery/battery.html.

posted 9/18/03