The content of ookmannen.be rests on a consistent body of evidence: male victimization is structurally underreported due to gender norms and "ideal victim" scripts; detection depends on proactive, non-judgmental professionals; and standard risk tools lose validity when implicitly calibrated to male perpetrator profiles.
Key researchers
- Prof. Ines Keygnaert (UGent / UZ Gent / ICRH) — public health, sexual and partner violence, barriers for male victims
- Prof. Kasia Uzieblo (VUB / 1712 coordinator) — forensic psychology, post-separation behavior, minorities
- Dr. Anne Groenen (UCLL Resilient People) — practical frameworks for partner violence and stalking in Belgium
- Dr. Vivienne de Vogel (Van der Hoeven Kliniek / Maastricht / HU) — gender-sensitive risk assessment
- IPV-PRO&POL (BELSPO/BRAIN-be) — Belgian federal study including interviews with male victims
Key publications
Male victimization and help-seeking barriers
Depraetere, J., Vandeviver, C., Vander Beken, T., & Keygnaert, I. (2020). Big boys don't cry: A critical interpretive synthesis of male sexual victimization. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 21(5), 991–1010. DOI 10.1177/1524838018816979
This synthesis shows how dominant gender roles and rape myths reinforce underreporting of male victimization and how this inhibits self-identification and help-seeking.
Post-separation behavior and gender differences
De Smet, O., Uzieblo, K., Loeys, T., Buysse, A., & Onraedt, T. (2015). Unwanted pursuit behavior after breakup: Occurrence, risk factors, and gender differences. Journal of Family Violence, 30(6), 753–767. DOI 10.1007/s10896-015-9687-9
In 631 ex-partners, rates of unwanted pursuit after separation were comparable between men and women; predictors lay in rumination and anxious attachment rather than gender.
Partner violence as a dynamic process (Belgium)
Le Compte, T.-M., & Groenen, A. (2020). Als liefde overleven wordt: De vele gezichten van partnergeweld. Pelckmans Pro. ISBN 978-94-6337-224-4.
A practical framework for understanding partner violence as a multidimensional, dynamic process — including psychological violence, isolation and coercive control. Widely used by Belgian practitioners.
Gender-sensitive risk assessment
De Vogel, V., De Vries Robbé, M., Van Kalmthout, W., & Place, C. (2014). Female Additional Manual (FAM). Van der Hoeven Kliniek / De Forensische Zorgspecialisten.
Shows that standard risk instruments underperform for female perpetrators. Introduces gender-specific risk and protective factors relevant to cases with female aggressors.
Belgian federal research: male victims and institutional abuse
IPV-PRO&POL (BELSPO/BRAIN-be, 2017–2021). Interdisciplinary federal study on intimate partner violence processes and policy in Belgium. Includes criminal case files, victim and perpetrator interviews, and Delphi panels. Explicit findings on male victims: psychological violence, isolation, post-separation abuse, and institutional/administrative abuse as a recognized form of control.
National survey on intimate partner violence (Belgium)
Janssen, C., & Vesentini, F. (2024). Gendergerelateerd geweld in België: Kerncijfers van de Europese enquête over geweld tegen vrouwen en andere vormen van interpersoonlijk geweld (EU-GBV, 2021–2022). IWEPS/BISA/Statistiek Vlaanderen. publicaties.vlaanderen.be
Representative survey conducted in 2021–2022 among 5,494 people in Belgium (4,529 women, 965 men). Overall prevalence of intimate partner violence is comparable between sexes (men 33.1%, women 31.3% — not statistically significant), but the nature differs fundamentally: men more often experience only psychological violence (74.1% of male victims), women more often physical and sexual violence and combinations of multiple forms (48.7% vs 23.5%). The men's data are described as "exploratory" in the report due to the smaller sample size.
Practical literature for victims
- Terri Cole — Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency (Sounds True, 2022) — Dutch translation: Codependentie (AnkhHermes, 2025, ISBN 9789020221749). — Describes high-functioning codependency and the narcissist-codependent dynamic (chapter 5).
- Margalis Fjelstad — Stop Caretaking the Borderline or Narcissist (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). ISBN 978-1-4422-2018-8. — Introduces the Caretaker concept and the FOG mechanism (Fear, Obligation, Guilt) by which controlling partners keep victims trapped.
→ Full sources page with APA citations and DOIs (NL)
Content also based on: Belgian EU-GBV survey, IGVM/IEFH policy frameworks, Keertij, contextthinking.org.