Domestic violence against men-also a medicolegal problem?

Background Male victims of domestic violence frequently also initially consult a general practitioner (GP) or doctors in emergency departments. Therefore, awareness of this taboo issue of "domestic violence against men" needs to be increased in all medical professions. Method A retrospective data analysis for a 5-year period was performed. The number of male victims of domestic violence who took the offer of a forensic documentation of findings, the form of violence and the injuries inflicted were examined. Result A total number of 867 people were examined in the outpatient department in the Rostock outpatient department for victims of violence from 2013 to 2018, including 455 adults (52.5%). Remarkable is the increase of male victims of domestic violence in 2018, which accounted for 10.3% of all adults examined in this year. The victims showed signs of mild to moderately intensive blunt force injuries, predominantly scratch-like skin defects and hematomas. Conclusion The results underline the importance and need of forensic examinations. The further development of preventive measures as well as specific offers for affected men would be desirable. More reliable knowledge on this topic is necessary for physicians to be able to counter the stereotype image of violent men with factual information.