Centre for abused men shuts down

NST: Nobody, it appears, cares for abused men. And abused men themselves are too ashamed to talk about being beaten up or manhandled by women. They see it as a further bruising to their battered ego.
That, perhaps, explains the closing down today of the only centre established to help abused and abusive men.
Only six men sought help with the Men to Men (M2M) centre since its establishment in 2003. And that too, they telephoned to seek counsel - they were too ashamed to come personally.
Dr Rohana Ariffin, the founder of M2M, said she could no longer operate the centre as there was a lack of funds.
"I am simply tired of going round asking for funds. People are just not appreciative of what the centre has to offer so it is shutting down," she told the New Straits Times.
Rohana, a former lecturer in the School of Social Science at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said she set up the centre on her own initiative after realising there were no avenues for men with problems to seek counselling.
She said there were cases involving men who suffered spousal abuse but such cases were often not highlighted.
The centre was set up in January 2003 to provide shelter and counselling for abused and abusive men. It was also intended for research purposes as well as to conduct workshops to educate men about spousal abuse.
However, Rohana said her target group was simply not interested or unwilling to be educated about the matter.
"It could be an ego problem but men facing abuse or those who are abusive just don't seem to be interested to be counselled.
"We provided an avenue for them to seek help but there was no response.There is nothing more we can do," she said.
Rohana said the project would have been introduced in other states had it been successful here.
According to Rohana, the centre only handled six cases since it was set up - all of them minor domestic problems which were solved through counselling over the telephone.
Rohana said she and several volunteers had been operating from a makeshift office at the USM.
She said the centre had previously sought help from the State Government for some space at the Caring Society Complex but this was rejected.
She added that funding, whether from well-wishers or the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, was also not forthcoming.
Rohana said she had written twice to the ministry seeking some form of grant or financial support but there was no reply.