When you think about the term “domestic disturbance,” the first thing you think of is a man abusing his wife or girlfriend.

Your mind’s eye probably sees an image of OJ Simpson, Bobby Brown or maybe even Mike Tyson. In fact, the last thing you would think of is the exact opposite: A woman hitting or abusing her husband or boyfriend.

This is because most police reports involving these domestic disturbances are instances of men abusing women.

In fact, according to the website for Psych Central, domestic abuse often goes unreported when the victim is a man. When this happens, male victims are just as likely as female victims to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

Men are less likely to report a serious injury caused by a female partner, according to the website.

For that matter, police officers are less likely to arrest female suspects.

The problem is that domestic violence is largely seen as a woman’s issue that only affects women. However, it should be viewed more as a societal problem that affects both genders — and their children — for the most part, equally.

What I don’t understand is this: Why is one considered more heinous than the other?

Furthermore, why do female victims report abuse so much more often than their male counterparts?

You can make the argument that the man wouldn’t want to face embarrassment because he was assaulted by someone who is supposedly from the weaker sex.

Maybe he’d be seen as weak. or maybe he doesn’t want his friends to think, “She wears the pants in the family,” as the old cliched saying goes.

However, there are more than enough female victims who don’t report domestic violence for one reason or another, usually out of fear.

All the warning signs are there, though a common response to someone inquiring about a black eye is, “I walked into a door.”

Usually, abuse victims wear sunglasses or extra clothing to hide the physical abuse. One warning sign is if a victim wears a turtleneck sweater on a scorching hot day.

However, abuse does not have to be physical. It can be mental, emotional or psychological.

Abusive relationships can take all forms, but abusers are usually manipulative control freaks. Those are the kinds of people we should all avoid. They’ll manipulate you into isolation so that you can’t see your family or friends.

An abuser might control you so that only you do what he or she wants to do.

It might make sense that female abusers prefer men who are smaller than them, or who are easily controlled in relationships.

According to a 2010 report by The Guardian, at least 40 percent of domestic disturbance victims in the United Kingdom are male, which contradicts the stereotype that victims were almost always women in the world.

There are far fewer places male victims can go than places female victims can go, according to a report by Parity, a men’s rights group.

The Guardian also quoted the report as having stated “Domestic violence is often seen as a female victim/male perpetrator problem, but the evidence demonstrates that this is a false picture.”

According to Parity’s website, government and public policies continue to be largely based on this perception, even though there have been many studies all over the world that prove the idea that men are most likely the perpetrators of these types of crimes is wrong.

There needs to be more support for male victims. There are fewer men’s shelters and support programs for male victims are vastly inferior compared to those same programs for female victims of domestic abuse.

There should be more places where men can seek shelter from abusive wives and girlfriends.

Above all, domestic abuse should not be tolerated. It doesn’t matter what the gender of an abuse victim is, or even what the age is. All domestic abuse crimes should receive the same level of punishment.

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