Analysis of the latest British Crime Survey shows male victims of domestic abuse are twice as likely to suffer in silence behind their front doors than female victims and are three times more reluctant to tell the police and four times more reluctant to their GP about the problems they and any children face.

At a national conference in Taunton for male victims of domestic abuse, the ManKind Initiative charity will state the figures show the public bodies are not doing enough to encourage men to seek the help they and their children need but with a little thought this can be changed.

The charity believes many men fail to recognise they are a victim because of the lack of awareness campaigns aimed specifically at male victims and this is compounded by the lack of confidence in telling the public authorities in the fear they will not be believed. The lack of local services especially in local housing support continues to be a problem and all adds to additional barriers that men have to overcome before they and their children can escape.

The charity’s five point communications checklist includes running publicity awareness campaigns aimed at giving male victims, including those with children, the confidence to come forward. This includes aiming publicity in places that men will see (and where their partners may not) such as in sports pages and sports clubs, service stations and in pubs and bars rather than in libraries and GP surgeries where men visit less frequently.