AMIS was created in 2010 by a group of concerned women and men from a variety of backgrounds, including men who had experienced domestic abuse. They came together because of a growing interest and concern that domestic abuse was a serious issue for men. The men affected had been at a loss for years as to where to find help, until a news story about plans to set up a support service prompted them to get in touch.
In late 2009, the group submitted a petition to Holyrood, calling for the absence of services for male victims to be addressed. The Petitions Committee sought further information from a range of services and organisations. The response was mixed, but the prevailing view was sceptical, suggesting that male victims were rare, that most claims were false, and the few genuine male victims could be dealt with by existing mainstream organisations.
Nevertheless, in April 2010 The Scottish Government declared their decision to provide funding for the (London-based) Men’s Advice Line to extend its services to accept calls from men in Scotland. The parent organisation, Respect was also awarded funding to extend their support services for male or female perpetrators calling from Scotland.
On 11th May 2010, AMIS registered with OSCR as a charity (unincorporated). Supported by an Awards For All grant from the National Lottery, AMIS volunteers engaged in helpline training. Our national helpline was launched on 15th October that year from our then base in Dunfermline, providing, at last, a service that was under Scottish jurisdiction. During the first years, AMIS volunteers responded to calls from or on behalf of around 100 men a year.
In December 2011, AMIS moved to Edinburgh and on 26th April 2012, became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).
In September 2012, AMIS employed our first staff member, to manage the helpline on a part-time basis, thanks to five-year funding from the Tudor Trust. This was followed in 2013 by 3 years of funding from the Scottish Government’s Equality Unit, providing a development officer to work with mainstream services to help improve responses to men affected by domestic abuse.
A 4-year grant from the Big Lottery Fund, Becoming a Survivor, in 2014 increased our helpline capacity and allowed us to launch the Male Domestic Abuse Support Service (MDASS) in partnership with Rowan Alba Ltd. This enabled us to provide a dedicated one-to-one support service for men who needed intensive long-term support for up to 18 months, if they could meet in Edinburgh. An independent evaluation indicated this to be a much needed and very highly rated service, that we hoped to extend across Scotland.
However in 2018, when the grant ended, this service had to be suspended. Since then, AMIS has focused on maintaining the helpline, which looks set to have supported around 450 individual clients in 2019. On-going client support has also increased, with the average caller making contact 3 times, some many more. Staff still manage to meet with a limited number of clients for whom a face-to-face meeting is important. Further much-needed development, including peer support groups, a Skype service for remote areas, more services for young people, a legal information clinic and counselling services are on hold until more funding is secured.
AMIS has also remained actively involved in networking with and providing training for other organisations that encounter male victims. We also provide educational input for young people on healthy relationships with the aim of preventing domestic abuse. AMIS also participates in various fora and consultations held by the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, to try to encourage a more gender-inclusive approach.
Official recognition that men are victims of domestic abuse has moved on. The fact that men experience domestic abuse and are entitled to support is now written into the introduction in the ‘Equally Safe’ Action Plan.
