Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

MALE domestic abuse victims who have suffered harrowing violence at the hands of their girlfriends tell their stories in a new S4C documentary this week.

O’r Galon: Cariad sy’n Curo features two men who break their silence to describe how their partners became angry and abusive, even cutting them with knives.

According to police figures, the number of female perpetrators in Wales and England has increased from 800 in 2004-05 to more than 4,000 in 2010-11.

The problem is more widespread than people realise – and the programme, screened next Wednesday, asks if there is enough support available for the victims.

In the process of gathering life stories, production company Barefoot Rascals found that many men feel unfairly treated by the system.

It consulted a range of organisations, including De Gwynedd Domestic Abuse Services, FNF Wales – Both Parents Needed, Gorwel Domestic Abuse Service, Dyn Project, Welsh Women’s Aid and Gwent Police.

Producer and director Frances Adie said that meeting these men changed many of her own preconceptions.

“I started researching this subject with the assumption that men were suffering in silence because they were embarrassed or frightened of what society would think of them. I soon discovered the reasons are much more complex,” she says.

“Threats to take away access to the children are used against men who are already vulnerable. It’s also difficult to find help due to a lack of support services geared towards the needs of men. This programme, which took more than a year to make, gives a voice to male victims of domestic abuse.”

The men, whose stories are depicted in dramatic reconstructions, wished to remain anonymous to protect their families, but were keen to speak out.

Man A says he faced constant put-downs from his former partner who told him he was “good for nothing” and “useless”.

He says: “Before this relationship, I was quite a confident person, a little bit of a Jack-the-lad perhaps, but now I always take a step back before becoming involved. It has not only knocked my confidence, it has been soul-destroying too.

“The crux of the problem is society accepts these things happen to women but people still don’t believe they happen to men.”

Man B, who was cut with a knife during one confrontation, says he was threatened and abused constantly by his former partner, yet he was the one taken to court on the basis of a “false accusation”.

He admits: “I went to the point of putting a rope around my neck and I was ready to put an end to it all.”

O’r Galon: Cariad sy’n Curo is on S4C on Wednesday at 9pm.