I think this is the core of the issue. The view just seems to be that how could a woman hurt a man? Or how could a man be afraid of a woman? Well of course it is possible.
There was some time ago a perfect incident that happened in Finland. Basically a man (and their children) was threatened with violence and beaten by a woman and he called the emergency number. The response from the emergency number was "are you really getting your ass whipped by a woman?". Also he asked his weight and height. To top it off when the person at the emergency center found out they both had the same weight he said "well that's fair fight then". The message that I get was that the man just should have made the bitch not forget her place...?
Then later the issue was discussed in a discussion show and it was just pretty astonishing how some people just couldn't believe a woman could hurt a man. It was like they were trying to tell them world is flat.
We are not talking about just mental and physical abuse here. Who gets the children when they divorce and who gets a criminal record are also important aspects of it.
The social situation seems be that women are always seen as victims. In cases of domestic violence the women are just fighting back. What becky said about the world being a bit different for women and men is of course important to acknowledge though. Being a man I've never felt any fear of any kind despite being shit drunk in middle of nowhere walking home from bar through dark lonely road in the middle of the night. Apart from polar bears and trees falling on me there's nothing I need to worry about. And I am (was) pretty sure i could handle a polar bear.