Male victims of coercive control travelling three hours from Cork to access domestic abuse services

A CHARITY revealed that Cork men are travelling three hours to access safe beds after falling victim to coercive control.

Chief executive at Men’s Aid, Kathrina Bentley, made the startling comments to emphasise the need for safe beds for male domestic violence victims.

Kathrina fears this is making men less likely to speak up about their terrifying situations.

“We have had men from the Cork area ring us from their cars, tractors, with one even ringing from a tent, after having to leave the house,” she said.

“We do get men sitting in front of us with stitches and scars from stab wounds, but they seem to be mostly from the east coast.

“The men from the Cork area are largely affected by coercive control. A three-hour trip from Cork isn’t a long-distance when your life is falling apart and you are suffering as a result of coercive control. When you are experiencing such a catastrophic event you will drive anywhere because the s locally don’t exist. People will go where the help is.”

She said that violence against males in the community needs to be taken more seriously.

“Ireland is not responding to the demand and the needs of the vulnerable male victim. Knowing that this service is available locally will at least give men the confidence to reach out and ask for help.

“Our fear is that there is so much more of this going on behind closed doors that we don’t even know about yet.” She added that domestic abuse affects people across the board.

“We get calls from people from all walks of life from travellers to isolated farmers because domestic violence doesn’t discriminate.” 

for male domestic abuse victims is also available in Cork through OSS Cork which s both genders affected by the issue.

To find out more about the charity or access their details visit https://www.osscork.com/

• Men affected by domestic abuse can find out more about the charity, which is located in Navan, by visiting mensaid.ie