Men are victims of domestic violence and often commit suicide

In The Bee (June 3), Josh Dubow of the Associated Press wrote about a male athlete and the loss of his sister to suicide. Factors contributing to suicide include depression, isolation, and stress. It’s been known for decades that four times as many males commit suicide as females but we never mention gender. As children my twin sister and I saw the unforgettable image of police cutting the rope of a man who had hung himself. Over several decades since we have known of a friend’s father who committed suicide, male friends and two brothers.

No “men’s rights” advocates would suggest that because females, compared to males, rarely commit suicide, let’s not mention them. But this seems to be what we do by ignoring male suicide rates or males murdered or severely injured in domestic violence. We ignore the hundreds of men murdered by wives and the thousands of men who are victims of severe violence. The federal Centers for Disease Control in 2010 reported that 40 percent of severe physical violence was directed at men. Teaching males that their suffering and pain matter less is likely one of the reasons to kill themselves. It’s time to stop hiding male victims; their deaths, matter too.

This story was originally published June 11, 2018 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Men are victims of domestic violence and often commit suicide."