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Men who experience abuse by a female partner encounter a range of shared obstacles when trying to seek help, but the specific challenges they face often vary depending on their racial and ethnic backgrounds. New research details how concerns like shame, fear of false accusations, and institutional bias shape the decisions of Black, Latino, and White men who have been victimized. The findings were published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities.
Intimate partner violence affects people across all demographics. A survey covered by PsyPost in 2024 indicated that a large majority of men have experienced at least one instance of sexual victimization by a woman. Despite high rates of abuse, men who are victimized are much less likely to ask for support than women.
When they do look for help, they often find themselves alienated in systems that were designed primarily with female victims in mind. These institutional structures can reinforce the idea that male victimization is rare, leaving men without tailored resources.
Earlier research identified the common hurdles that prevent male victims of abuse from seeking help. A 2019 study showed that male victims frequently avoid reporting abuse because they fear society will not believe them or will instead view them as the actual aggressor. That same year, a systematic review confirmed the widespread difficulties and stigma men face when trying to find support for domestic abuse.
Adding to this context, a study covered by PsyPost in 2025 found that societal sexism often leads people to outright deny or minimize the fact that men can be victims of relationship violence. These roadblocks can leave men trapped in abusive situations.
Most of the previous research on this topic focused on predominantly White samples or lumped all men together without looking at racial differences. This dynamic led a research team to investigate how these barriers might differ among specific groups.
The research, led by Lyric N. Russo of George Mason University, involved 1,194 men in the United States between the ages of 18 and 59. The participants were recruited through an online survey platform and were roughly divided into three groups: 596 Latino men, 299 non-Latino Black men, and 299 non-Latino White men.
To participate, all the men had to report having experienced aggressive, controlling, or coercive behavior from a female romantic partner at some point in their lives. The sample represented men who had endured high rates of abuse. Almost all the participants (95.8%) reported being subjected to coercive control, such as a partner keeping them from seeing friends and family, and 84.6% reported experiencing physical abuse.
The men answered questions from a 17-item scale designed to identify specific reasons why they might not have asked for help. The survey also included an open-ended question allowing the participants to describe their unique obstacles in their own words.
Across all three groups, the men reported similar core obstacles. Over half of the total sample (55.7%) viewed the abuse as a private or personal matter, making it the most common reason for not seeking help. Nearly half of the participants reported feeling shame or embarrassment (49.2%).
Similar numbers expressed concerns that their partner would falsely accuse them or seek revenge (47.8%), that they would be blamed (47.5%), or that they simply did not know how to tell anyone (47.3%). Nearly 40 percent doubted whether resources could actually help them.
The pattern of obstacles shifted when looking at specific racial and ethnic groups. Latino men reported a higher total number of barriers on average than Black men. They were more likely than both Black and White men to report that they did not know how to disclose their experiences.
They also expressed more concern about bringing shame or dishonor to their families. Compared to White men, Latino men were more likely to cite language difficulties, concerns about revealing their immigration status, and a fear that their partner was actively preventing them from seeking help.
Black men in the study were less likely than both Latino and White men to worry that others would not believe them or would be biased against them. The authors note that this finding requires context to be properly understood. Rather than feeling confident that they would be supported, the lower concern about bias might reflect societal stereotypes about Black women.
Because 73.2% of the Black men in the study reported that their abusive partner was a Black woman, racialized gender stereotypes portraying Black women as aggressive might cause society to find the men’s reports of abuse more believable, even if institutional support remains inadequate.
White men reported their own distinct challenges. Based on the open-ended responses, White men were more likely than Latino men to express difficulty recognizing or labeling their experiences as abuse. Traditional gender norms that emphasize toughness and self-reliance can make it hard for men to realize that a partner’s behavior is actually abusive, leading them to interpret the harmful actions as normal relationship conflict rather than mistreatment.
The study relied on a specific sample of men recruited through an online panel, meaning the results might not represent all men in these demographic groups. Men without internet access or those less comfortable sharing personal experiences online were likely not included. The research also captured a snapshot in time rather than tracking the men over a longer period. This approach makes it impossible to determine how barriers to seeking help might change as a relationship progresses or as a person’s life circumstances shift.
The data comes entirely from self-reported surveys, which can be influenced by a person’s willingness to disclose sensitive information. The study focused exclusively on men abused by female partners. Men who experience abuse from male or nonbinary partners might encounter a different set of obstacles, shaped by different social stigmas and available resources. Future research could explore how different types of relationships and community contexts alter a person’s ability to access support services.
The study, “Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Male Victims of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence: Insights From Black, Latino, and White Men,” was authored by Lyric N. Russo, Denise A. Hines, Jennifer L. Mezzapelle, Chiara Sabina, Kerry A. Lee, and Emily M. Douglas.