About one in ten men experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Although that number is much lower than the approximately one in four women who experience domestic violence, it is nevertheless a reality we should acknowledge and address during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). We may not immediately thing of college-aged students when we discuss domestic violence. However, the definition of domestic violence shared by the Office on Women’s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services broadens the understanding of the term to encompass intimate partner violence, which includes “physical, sexual, or emotional abuse by a current or former intimate partner.” The United Nations refers to domestic violence as domestic abuse or intimate partner violence, describing it as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Thinking about domestic violence in this way makes it quite clear that many college students are at risk, including men. Of the men who are domestic violence survivors, more than half (56%) experienced violence before the age of 25—a period when many young adults are navigating life on a college campuses. How domestic violence impacts male college students […]
