Trend of violence towards men in period between 2002 and 2019 in the Republic of Serbia

Общество. Среда. Развитие № 3’2022

A precise definition of domestic violence in scientific literature is still not adopted. The scholarly and professional community can agree that domestic violence can be defined as sociological, criminalistic and a challenge of criminal justice in the contemporary society. What is especially significant is that for centuries, domestic violence is constantly present in all social layers. A great number of researches [1; 45; 46] showed that in spite of developments of civilization, social life and coexistence of women as well as men, development of the phenomenon of gender equality, development and defining of legislation (international and national) domestic violence persists.

Per initiative of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, that were the first to initiate forming and adoption of various documents (charters, declarations, recommendations and guides), a significantly higher level of protection of victims of domestic violence was achieved. Some of the most significant documents from this field were the Convention of the United Nations of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women, Declaration of the United Nations of Eliminating Violence Towards Women, Convention of the United Nations of Children’s Rights, Resolu- tion of the Commission of the United Nations for Human Rights of Elimination of Violence Towards Women, Reports of Special Reporter of the United Nations for Violence Towards Women, Convention of Prevention and Fight Against Violence Towards Women and Domestic Violence, as well as numerous recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and similar [34]. One of the most important advancements in this field was passing Ordinance of Restraining Order against approaching the victim as well as eviction of tyrants from family homes, regardless of ownership or possession rights over real estate [7; 28]. Certain societies still dictate specific ways of behavior, selection of profession, social and family roles, and also traditional job distribution between men and women. Such an attitude is most often the result of patriarchal instilled ways of behavior where all issues of control and power were entrusted to men. Out of such viewpoint arises the fact that men are restrained when it comes to expressing emotions and aggressivity [36]. Besides that, forms of upbringing and education play a great role in this, since women are very often passive, while men are allowed to be violent. It influenced the fact that adult men and wom- en have a completely different experience and perception of violence [42].

Considering the past century, position and power of women have changed drastically. This was vastly due to education and changes of social values, norms and gender roles in society. Education of women has significantly raised awareness that men are neither superior nor more powerful in both family and professional aspects of life. Also, women have become better positioned then men in some social aspects. Certain researches have shown that women openly show their emotions more readily in comparison to the men [10] while at the same time certain authors [16; 17; 20] however, state that there still are no drastic differences in showing emotions, especially in families and partner relations. West [44] states that significant roles, besides the education, play race and social and economic status of a woman.

Because of all of the aforementioned, scientific data show that women were seen as the inferior gender significantly more often than men. A small number of researchers [9; 11] in the beginning of the 80’s and later, however show the opposite, that women too can be the tyrants. We also cannot diminish the importance of an array of feministic movements that were formed in that period. Their main task was to direct all public attention to women as victims of domestic violence, propagating attitudes that violence where men are victims should neither be a subject of public debate nor concern of public opinion [9; 11; 29]. Fact that violence towards men or aggressivity of women are justified as inability to suffer abuse from their partners [23; 24; 37].

A large number of researches showed that spouses or unmarried partners can be both victims and perpetrators of bullying or violence [Gelles, 1974; 15]. From 1970 onwards, more intensive researches of victims of violence where both men and women fell victims, are being conducted. In connection with that, violence towards men exits within the frame of taboo topics that are not publicly discussed, because it was thought for many years that only women were victims of violence. Certain authors [4; 6; 15; 21] have shown in their research results that motives of tyrant women and men are very different, but difference in frequency of violence done by men or violence done by women is almost completely absent.

By changes of the Penal Law of the Republic of Serbia from the year 2002, domestic violence is recognized as a felony, which led to the procedures of protection of victims being topics of numerous professional discussions. The changes have clearly defined a more stringent approach to violence, ex-officio prosecution as well as more restrictive punishment policy [26;

27]. Significant changes have also been made to Family Law. However, an array of problems and non-conformity between the Family Law and the Penal Law of the Republic of Serbia were met with much disapproval and criticism, mostly due to lack of adequate mechanisms to control the implementation of protective measurements [30; 31; 32; 38; 41]. Considering the entire scholarly literature, goal of this paper was to examine the trend of violence towards men in the Republic of Serbia (altogether, in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Niš, Novi Sad, Sombor and Subotica). In order to conduct this investigation, official data was used, that of number of perpetrated criminal acts of Domestic Violence as from Article 194 of the Criminal Law of the Republic of Serbia where men were the victims, for time period between 9th March 2002 and 31st December 2019, sorted by years and Police Jurisdictions, from official data kept by Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.

Material and methods

Data that was used, of number of perpetrated criminal acts of Domestic Violence as from Article 194 of the Criminal Law of the Republic of Serbia where men were the victims, for time period between 9th March 2002 and 31st December 2019, sorted by years and Police Jurisdictions, from official data kept by Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. All obtained results have been shown graphically. Processing of obtained results was done in statistical package software Graph Pad Prism 8.00 (Version 5.00 for Windows, Graph Pad Software, San Diego California USA, .

Hypotheses of the research

The general hypothesis of the research was:

The higher the level of promoting of gender equality, the more the position of men is in the shadows in cultural and social aspect.

First special hypothesis (H-1) is: The higher the degree of promoting violence towards women, the lower the degree of cultural and media attention given to position of men.

Indicators for first special hypothesis are: written statements in scientific and professional literature dedicated to promotion of gender equality, emphasis on significance of preventing violence towards women, while neglecting the potential possibility of men as victims of the violence.

Second special hypothesis (H-2) is: The higher the degree of promoting violence towards women, the lower the degree of reported cases of violence towards men.

Indicators for second special hypothesis are: written statements in contemporary lite-

Общество

rature in our country as well as data taken from Police Administration Sombor, Centre for Social Work Sombor, as well as data from Safe House of the Town of Sombor, whose jurisdiction covers counties of Western Bačka and Northern Bačka and municipality of Bač-ka Palanka, as well as organizations of the civic society that deal in this subject matter.

Graph 1. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Serbia.

Общество. Среда. Развитие № 3’2022

Results

Graph 1 shows results pertaining to the total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Serbia. Regarding the researched period, between the years 2002 and 2019, a significant increase in number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men in Serbia can be seen. The largest number was recorded in 2017, with total of 1717 men as victims, while that number was smaller in 2018, with 1544 recorded male victims.

Results of total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Belgrade are shown in Graph 2. By following the trend between the years 2002 and 2019, a significant increase in reported cases of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men can be seen, which is expected, since the trend of increase is seen throughout Serbia. During 2018 the largest number of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men was recorded and was 238, while in 2019 the number was 235.

Graph 3 shows the trend of increase of number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men in Kragujevac. The largest number of perpetrated criminal acts was recorded in 2017 (the total number of reported cases was 95), while the smallest number of reported cases was in the year 2002.

Graph 2. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Belgrade.

Graph 3. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Kragujevac

Graph 4. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Niš

Graph 4 shows the results of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Niš. Based on the research, a trend of increase of the number of criminal acts is evident. The largest number of these criminal acts was recorded in 2018, with a total of 121 reported cases. During 2002 no case of criminal act of domestic violence towards men was recorded.

The total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Novi Sad is shown in Graph 5. During the researched period a trend of increase of reported cases of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men was noticed, with the largest number of cases reported in 2017, 203 cases in total. A smaller number of reported cases was recorded in 2018 (a total of 166) and in 2019 (a total of 147).

Graph 6 shows the results of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Som-bor. 2018 saw the largest number of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men, a total of 54, while in 2019 that number was slightly lower, 45 in total.

The number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Subotica is shown in Graph 7. The largest number of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men was recorded in 2013, with 38 reported cases in total. Similarly, during 2015 the total number of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men was 36, while in period between the year 2016 and 2019 that number was in a small decline.

Discussion

Scientific researches pertaining to violence towards men are quite numerous [33; 35]. In those researches men are defined as victims of domestic violence [39] and in partner relations [12; 2; 40]. Based on obtained results it can be deduced that the phenomenon of violence towards men, i.e. perpetrating criminal acts of violence that harm men, is a serious problem of society. This topic was specifically researched in many surrounding countries, while we have access to very limited amount of data in our country. Researches of this topic are especially common in Croatia, where a large number of authors has proven and pointed out the importance of researching the violence towards men as a cultural and social problem of the third millennium. An array of studies in this field was published in Croatia [2; 12; 18; 33; 39; 43]. In our country the data is very limited on this topic and the majority of authors sees only women in the role of victim [3; 5; 19].

The question that very often pops up is correctness of the data from official documents for the reason that men that are victims of violence are not ready to admit to being abused.

0      50 100 150 200

Graph 5. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Novi Sad

0      10 20 30 40     50

Graph 6. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Sombor

0        10       20       30       4

Graph 7. Total number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men between the years 2002 and 2019 in Subotica

Общество

One thing to be taken into consideration when collecting such data is a nationwide research via social analysis and reaching conclusions about prevalence of violence towards men. Also, various statistical data collected in conducted researches presents a significant problem. Discrepancies and differences in number and prevalence of violence towards men can be clarified in more ways than one: Research methods can influence the final outcome and

Общество. Среда. Развитие № 3’2022

results of the studies, definition of the research subject, the sample on which the research was conducted, as well as the test subjects that take part in the research itself. All of this points out how important this research is, i.e. how complex the problem of violence towards men is.

Most authors will agree that violence, as a complex social phenomenon, is mutually present, i.e. that in 50% of the cases both partners are violent [13; 25; 14]. Certain authors have proven that women have the same potential for violence as men [8]. Hines and Douglas [15] have proven results that are similar to the results of the research covered by this paper, i.e. that the number of cases of violence towards men is increasing. Statistical data shows that that the highest percentage of men suffer psychological violence (85,4%), physical violence (47,2%), and even sexual violence (29,2%) [22]. Hines and coll. [14] have proven that there is no difference between women and men in frequency of resorting to violence.

Nevertheless, despites everything stated hitherto, as well as a wealth of data on violence towards men, this topic remains obscure to the greater population. Experts quote several different theories why the violence towards men is marginalized, and they talk of traditional social stereotypes. The importance of patriarchal theories shouldn’t be ignored, and neither should the role of feministic movements and organizations, established with the goal to turn all attention exclusively to the question of violence towards women. Reactions of the society to the said social problem shouldn’t be diminished, as the implied notion is that men are physically superior, economically and socially less dependent compared to women.

The stated facts are just a fraction of the reason why the violence towards men does not get much public attention, is much researched or discussed. This is very significant for the purpose of degrading men as victims of the violence. All of this is very damaging and has devastating consequences to social life of men: physical damage, injuries that can result in murder, all the way to significant psychological effects like depression, psychosomatic disorders, anxiety, anger, rage, etc. Taking into account transfer of attitudes about violence from parents to children, it becomes crystal clear how important and serious social problem we are dealing with and how paramount it is to publicly promote, discuss and research men as victims of violence.

Continuous fight of the feminist movements, statements in the Charter of the United Nations, as well as requirements of the Council of the European Union for promotion of women’s rights have had a significant impact on sociological theory idea of women and men alike. A female perspective in the analysis of social interaction has marked a change of until then dominant “masculine-ism of sociologic discourse”, by bringing in the perspective of a less visible, subordinated gender.

Feministic approach as a medium perceives social occurrences from angle of “the other gender” and marks the visibility of a different experience, thereby representing a new theoretic paradigm. In theoretical thought and practical research the accent is placed on gender relationship as a product of social and cultural context, where attempts are being made to somehow equalize the rights of men and women. Affirmation of gender perspective implies the analysis and illumination of asymmetrical position of women and men, bearing in mind the mutual differences as constructs of society. Gender differences in various aspects of social life are respected as a product of gender-dependent behavior models and accepted as indicator of difference in opportunities and unequal position of one gender in relation to the other. This approach implies a bi-directional research of equality, although due to the higher visibility of unfavorable and subordinated position of women, the gender inequality is foremost perceived from the perspective of women. Still, affirmation of gender differences as the central subject opens up the space for examining the position and standpoint of men and detecting inequalities from that angle.

Gender perspective marks a more complete approach to shedding light on gender relation in the society, bringing forth differences and specificity of one gender in relation to the other. Differences between women and men as social beings are the product of social structure. A predominant attitude when speaking of social relation between genders is that patriarchal system of values is using natural differences between women and men to reproduce social inequality of genders as its fundamental principle of existence. That is not just a dominant attitude of feminist theoretical paradigm.

It is worth pointing out the fact that gender inequality can be defined as a complex social phenomenon where legal and social aspects have the equal value in defining it. It is be- ing regarded from standpoint of existence of rights and from angle of the genders to exercise them in real life. The equal rights are a necessary condition for equality, but if there is inequality in exercising economic, social and cultural rights in real life, then the inequality of women and men is the social reality. In the last years or even decades, a lot of attention was paid to social and cultural position of women, where women often used to be subject of victimization. In that sense, social and cultural position of men was greatly neglected. On the other hand, media portrayal of women, feminist movements and their propaganda against violence towards women have influenced the public opinion to focus its attention on women as victims of violence, while ignoring men as potential victims of violence.

Men are very often victims of violence, with a rather marginalized social status. This means that showing all cultural and social changes that are shaping modern society are equally influencing both women and men. Still, the position of women and feminist movements that have been promoted lately influenced the position of men, i.e. social image of men as the bullies. Likewise, the task of modern social sciences is to be responsible humanistic disciplines capable of offering us solutions to practical problems dealing with population, the society and gender equality. They should strive to understand phenomenons and seek out possible solutions to problems significant for cultural and social development of both women and men.

The Conclusion

While observing the researched period i.e. between the years of 2002 and 2019, a sig- nificant increase in perpetrated criminal acts where men were the victims has been detected in Serbia. The largest number was recorded in 2017.

Regarding the researched period, between the years 2002 and 2019, a significant increase in number of perpetrated criminal acts of domestic violence towards men in Ser- bia was detected. The largest number was recorded in 2017, with total of 1717 men as victims, while that number was smaller in 2018, with 1544 recorded male victims. Results of researching the total number of cases reported in Belgrade between the years 2002 and 2019, show a significant increase in reported cases of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men can be seen, which is expected, since the trend of increase is seen throughout Serbia. During 2018 the largest number of criminal acts of domestic violence towards men was recorded and was 238, while in 2019 the number was 235.

By researching the trend of increase in total number of perpetrated criminal acts where men were the victims between the years 2002 and 2019 both in Serbia and Belgrade, an increase can be seen in other communities as well. The largest number of such criminal acts was recorded between 2017 and 2019. The smallest number of cases was either recorded from 2002 to 2004, or no data exist.

The results shown have confirmed the hypotheses formulated in this paper, stating that the level of promotion of gender equality is connected to ignoration of the position of men in the observed processes, while also highlighting the necessity of further research in domestic violence where men are victims.