By Kevin Deutsch

A man is caught from behind and viciously attacked with a baseball bat. Another is punched in the face and stabbed with a shattered ceramic mug. The crime scenes are chaotic and bloody, reminiscent of a street fight or violent robbery.

In fact, these incidents were two in a series of recent domestic attacks in the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area in which women were the alleged aggressors - incidents that run counter to the more common dynamic of female domestic abuse victims and male perpetrators.

Women experience significantly more partner violence than men do, and are far more likely to be hurt in such incidents, experts say. But thousands of men are victimized, too. According to the 2000 National Violence Against Women Survey done by the Department of Justice, 8 percent of men surveyed said they were physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date in their lifetime.

According to survey estimates, approximately 1.5 million women and 834,700 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year in the United States.

Women are far more likely to be injured in such attacks, the study found. When men are hurt, it is often the result of being struck with a weapon or other object. That was the case is a string of domestic violence incidents in the 50th Precinct during the past 12 months.

Experts disagree about what's behind the accounts of women hitting men or attacking them with objects. Some, like Sue Osthoff, Director of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, say domestic incidents in which women strike men are usually self-defense or a reaction to ongoing battery.

"For many women, the only way they can defend themselves is to introduce a weapon," Ms. Osthoff said. A woman striking a male partner without having previously been victimized by him is "not typical," she said.

"Does it happen frequently? Not based on most of the research that I've seen. When you're talking about violence used to control and exploit a partner, some women do that, but not many," Ms. Osthoff said.