What about the men? : finding effective strategies for engaging abusive men and preventing the reoccurrence or escalation of violence against women

Summary: This study illustrated several points that need to be considered when trying to engage and help men who are abusive to their partners. First, it needs to be recognized that most men will not seek out help due to their male gender role attitudes and their lack of knowledge on where to find help. Secondly, men who engage in abusive behaviours would only feel comfortable talking with someone who is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and able to hold what is said in confidence. Furthermore, these men are looking for help that is non-judgmental and informative. The statistics indicate that male batterers would be open to receiving help from some people (e.g., counsellor, family, friends, doctor, and religious leader). Therefore it is important that we prepare these people with the awareness and appropriate tools to effectively engage with these men. Future goals stemming from this research are to develop public education campaigns that reach out to abusive men, friends and family of abusive men, and frontline professionals (e.g counsellors, religious leaders, doctors) to educate them on how to encourage men to talk about violence and seek help for their abusive behaviours. Public education campaigns need to reach out to men to help them recognize their problems in regards to abusive behavior as well as their support systems to provide the appropriate directions with these concerns.