Abuse Shelters Helping Men

    Katherine van Wormer thinks domestic violence shelters for women have actually helped men, too.

 The veteran social worker and professor of social work at the University of Northern Iowa says statistics show two things --  that more women can find emergency relief through domestic violence services and that fewer abusive men are being murdered as the women work to break the cycle of abuse. “...Domestic violence prevention services seem to be protecting more men than women in providing an escape route for the women,” said Van Wormer, 63.  

She cites the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which shows a decrease in the number of husbands killed by their wives over the last 30 years. “In 1976, 1304 males were murdered by their wives or partners and 1587 females were killed,” she said. “In 2005, that number dropped to only 329 men were killed and 1181 females.”   

Her research and subsequent studies of current domestic violence prevention services including shelters and safe houses, leads her to believe that these services have actually aided in the decrease in male murders.  

With more women able to leave their dangerous home situation, even temporarily, the result is that fewer of their violent husbands are being murdered by women trying to protect themselves. Hence, says Van Wormer, the result is a drop-off in murders of the abusive male spouse.