You rarely hear about the female-on-male flip side of domestic violence charges in news stories about everyday Americans, let alone perpetrated by a 22-year-old starlet, but Emma Roberts shocked everyone this morning when news surfaced that, on July 7th, she was taken into custody in Montreal following a fight with her boyfriend,Evan Peters. According to USA Today , he was found with a bloody nose and bite marks from Roberts, and she had various bruisings.

Roberts was released immediately because Peters didn't want to press charges; reps for both claim that it was just an "accident:" "It was an unfortunate incident and misunderstanding. Ms. Roberts was released after questioning and the couple are working together to move past it." Sounds familiar — battered women commonly take back their domestic assault reports. Regardless of the gender, many of the psychological effects of abuse are identical.

So just how prevalent is domestic violence against a male partner? Many people are of the opinion that men "can't be physically abused" the way men "can't be raped," because men are generally stronger than and can subsequently overpower women. Incidentally, neither of these are true.

According to a study done in 2000, the statistics of domestic abuse in America were 1.3 million women versus 835,000 men. A more recent study from 2011 ups the percentage: One in four men have experienced "rape, physical violence and/or stalking" by a partner, and one in seven have experienced "severe physical violence," like beaten with a fist or a blunt object. And a 32-nation study by the University of New Hampshire claims that girlfriends initiate violence equally often as boyfriends do in relationships.

So don't forget to pay mind: This does happen, and it needs just as much awareness and prevention as male-on-female domestic assault.

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Image via Pacific Coast News

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