A NATIONAL charity for men who are victims of domestic abuse has experienced a 33 per cent increase in the number of calls to its helpline in the first six months of this year.
Amen Support Services, which is based in Navan, Co Meath, received 2,427 calls from men to its confidential helpline between January and June, compared with 1,829 calls for the same period last year.
The organisation has also experienced an increase in overall “contacts” made with the service in the first six months of 2012. These include text messages, emails, phone calls, letters and one-to-one meetings. There were 2,835 contacts with the service in the first six months of this year, compared with 2,113 contacts in the first half of last year.
A director of the charity, Eugene Wogan, said the rise in the number of calls received by the charity was positive as it indicated that male victims of domestic abuse were seeking help rather than suffering in silence.
“Both men and women find it difficult to admit they are victims of domestic abuse, but in the last 20 years women have done a far better job in getting past that,” said Mr Wogan.
“Men still find it very difficult. There is still that attitude of I’m going to go down to the pub and the lads will be laughing at me. There is that fear among men that if they seek help it will somehow rebound on them and on their children.”
Mr Wogan said he would encourage any man who finds himself a victim of domestic abuse to contact the organisation.
“Voicing something that has been bothering you for some time actually help . . . Get help and you will get through it.”
He expressed concern that more than 500 calls made to the helpline in the first six months of the year went unanswered.
“We are grateful for the funding we get, but we are seriously underfunded. We can only provide a 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday service at present. We’d be hopeful of being able to expand that service in the future.”
Figures released by the charity for 2011 indicate that there were 4,303 contacts made with the service over the course of 2011, including 3,655 phone calls.
Some 38 per cent of men reported verbal abuse, 24 per cent of clients reported physical abuse and 37.5 per cent reported psychological abuse.
More than 2,000 clients came from the Dublin, northeast and mid-Leinster regions.
Some 400 clients were from the south of the country, and a further 372 were from the west.
The organisation can be contacted at amen.ieor the telephone helpline at 046 9023 718