Scots men forced to suffer in silence from domestic abuse

There is no tailored facility for male victims of domestic abuse north of the Border, and many are instead being shunted to unsuitable services.

And the Scottish Government insists that general counselling services, such as Victim Support, are enough – even though female sufferers have bespoke services.

Now a new organisation, Men's Aid Scotland, is seeking charitable status to secure funding to provide the counselling and advice services which currently do not exist.

The organiser, Jackie Walls, said: "We are trying to raise the profile but we are finding it very difficult to get recognition. They see women as always being the victims, never the perpetrator.

"It is totally unreported. We are trying to flag this up and say 'please see there is a need for services'. We need to do a pilot project and get statistics."

She says she contacted the Scottish Parliament about the issue and was given a list of numbers of support services. Two were in England, but they told her that they only took calls from Scotland out of goodwill as they knew there was nothing available north of the Border.

She also sought help from Jim Tolson, the MSP for Dunfermline West, who wrote to Stewart Maxwell, the Holyrood minister for communities and education, about the issue.

Mr Tolson said he received a reply telling him there was no need for extra resources. He said: "There should be an equivalent agency to help men as there is for women and children. I wrote to the minister and got a reply back on 7 May saying there is no need for such a service and it is covered by things like Victim Support.

"I don't think that's correct and I want to continue to press him and the Scottish Government and get a credible response to this to make sure there is a proper dedicated facility."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it took "a zero tolerance approach to all forms of domestic abuse" but recognised its "gender specific nature".

She said a recent study had suggested there was no need for an agency or refuge with a specific remit to support male victims of domestic abuse.

Men's Aid has already set up a website and is running a phoneline from Mrs Walls's Dunfermline home while the charity application is rubberstamped.

Through word of mouth and local advertising alone, they have been approached by 120 men throughout Scotland.

As well as the pilot project to gather statistics, their plans include a drop-in centre based in the town, along with a 24-hour helpline.

Mrs Walls said she believes that between a quarter and one in six men are victims of domestic abuse, depending on which research is subscribed to.

"They deserve the same support as women, " she added.

'She would rain punches on me … scream into my ear'

WHEN the "black curtains", as he describes them, came down and he flew into a mindless, panicked, uncontrollable rage, Fred lost an evening of his life he never expects to remember.

But it is the loss of the 20 years leading up to that tipping point which he truly grieves for – the years of "comprehensive physical, psychological, mental and financial abuse" at the hands of his wife.

In retrospect, he realises, her behaviour was odd from the start.

But it took several years for the physical abuse to begin. By then they were married.

"I was frequently threatened with knives but she never actually picked one up," he said. "She would rain punches on me and pull my head about by a handful of hair and scream abuse into my ear."

One night, after a particularly violent episode, he finally broke.

"It was like a curtain coming down. I remember the room darkening. Apparently I attacked her."

Later, after the divorce, he spoke to a counsellor who said such a loss of mental awareness was common in extreme cases of long-standing abuse.