The Executive Director of the ARK Foundation, Dr Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has warned that stigma and gender stereotypes are undermining efforts to address domestic abuse, with male victims often ridiculed and women’s experiences sometimes dismissed as normal problems in marriage.

She said society’s response to abuse was often shaped by cultural beliefs about how men and women should behave, making it difficult for victims to speak openly about their experiences or seek help.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show during a discussion on why people stay in abusive relationships, Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said the public needed to move beyond assumptions about who could be a victim and take reports of abuse seriously.

“When a man or a boy is abused, society tends to stigmatise and laugh at them,” she said.

“It's the immediate response, ah, how can a man be abused?”

She explained that the belief that men should always be strong enough to protect themselves could expose male victims to ridicule rather than support.

Such reactions, she said, could discourage men from disclosing their experiences or seeking assistance for fear of being mocked or judged.

Dr Dwamena-Aboagye stressed that domestic abuse affected both men and women, and that victims should be treated with seriousness and compassion regardless of their gender.

While male victims may face ridicule, Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said women who report abuse could also find their experiences dismissed because violence against women is sometimes treated as a familiar feature of married life.

She said that people often draw on their own experiences of abuse within families to suggest that violence is something women should expect or endure.

Such attitudes, she said, can influence not only how individuals respond to victims but also how institutions handle reports of domestic abuse.

When violence is viewed as a private disagreement between couples, there is a risk that victims will be encouraged to resolve the matter within the relationship instead of receiving the protection and support they need.

Dr Dwamena-Aboagye warned that these assumptions could leave victims misunderstood and prevent the seriousness of their experiences from being recognised.

She said society must stop treating men as incapable of being victims and stop expecting women to tolerate abuse simply because they are married.

Instead, she called for responses based on the nature and severity of the behaviour rather than stereotypes about gender or relationships.

The ARK Foundation executive director also stressed that domestic abuse should not be treated as an ordinary marital disagreement or a private family matter.

She said a clearer understanding of abuse was necessary because of its serious consequences for victims and the need to recognise its criminal nature.

“It's important for us to understand the phenomenon and also understand that it is criminal and also understand that it has a severe impact on the victims,” she said.