Female domestic violence against men: A case of Lusaka and Chongwe Districts

Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of men is something that doesn't get talked about very much. What's worse, when it does get talked about, discussion is almost always limited to the abuse that men do to women. A lot of people are very emotionally and politically invested in believing that violence is not something that women do, and when the men who have been victims of women try to speak out they frequently encounter negative reactions ranging from outright denial to actual accusations that it is their own fault that they were abused. It is worse when those reactions come from self-identified feminists who should know better. There is no excuse for any feminist to deny female abusiveness or to attack any man for discussing their experiences of it. This study critically examined female domestic violence against men. This research study was premised on the following research questions: what is the nature of female violence against men, what are the factors that lead to female violence against men, what are the levels of reporting by male victims of female domestic violence and what are the consequences of female violence against men. A descriptive study design was used. Data was collected by using both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected by way of interviewing the thirty four (34) respondents using interview guides. The secondary data was collected through reviewing available and relevant literature on female domestic violence against men. Data analysis was done by analysing data thematically. The findings of this research show that female domestic violence against men is in form of physical assault, verbal abuse, sexual violence and psychological abuse. It further revealed the reasons for why female violence against men vary but mostly it is because of men‟s perceived infidelity, infertility, failure to provide for the family, alcohol abuse, children from other marriages and retaliating male dominance. Effects of female violence against men such as physical injury, lack of economic power, isolation, fear, depression, low self-esteem and HIV/AIDS were revealed. This study recommended that Ministry of Gender and Development should educate society about female domestic violence against men. The Police should be serious when handling such cases and not mock male victims.