Extreme scenario to test the current laws. Even I don't believe many women like this hypothetical one exist but I need to test out this model TRP and the MRAs discuss all the time. I have added control variables.

A woman is being seriously emotionally abusive to a man (not necessarily her partner). She is telling him she hopes he dies, everyone would how he's totally worthless, weak, pathetic and a disgusting little pussy, how the world would be a happier place if he was gone, listing several morbid obscene ways in which he could kill himself, discussing how much his pain turns her on and brings her delight, and provoking him to end his life in the immediate future.

The man is in tears but feels powerless to do anything because he was raised in an isolated compound without outside media influence, and taught by misandrists that 'good, strong men don't hit women no matter what'. He was taught about how many predatory men abuse and hurt women both physically and emotionally, but was not taught that men can be emotionally abused. He was told that a very small no. of women are physically abusive but it literally needs to be akin to approaching a man point blank with a bazooka to count, i.e. very unlikely to occur outside of wartime. When he asked whether it would count if they attacked him with e.g. a Swiss army knife, he was told that 'in such a situation, the knife is most likely a precautionary measure in self-defence, so no.' So, he did not perceive what he felt as categorical emotional abuse, but did feel that she was being rather cruel to him and it was extremely upsetting.

Although the man has low self esteem from all of this abuse and is secretly depressed, he is not officially classed as a vulnerable adult. He has no known mental health conditions or disabilities, so there would be no mitigating factors in terms of being treated as a vulnerable person; he would be treated as an average man.

In response, after drying his eyes, he gets angry, loses his cool, shoves her and slaps or punches her. She is knocked to the ground but no serious damage is done. It is a non-lethal blow away from any sensitive spots, causing minor bodily harm at most. There is no serious bleeding, wounds are minimal. She is not in child-birth, they are both in their 30s and she is in good health otherwise.

She reports him for domestic abuse and violence. He is immediately charged and arrested, now awaiting prosecution.

Did the man act in self defence after provocation? My understanding is that under the current laws, the man is more likely to be locked up for retaliating than the woman and she'll be acquitted with reparations. Self defence only applies when the man is in life-threatening danger from immediate physical harm.

When emotional manipulation, women's modus operandi goes unchallenged, how is a beta safe from abusive women such as this?

tl;dr If a man hit a seriously emotionally abusive woman, inflicting minimal harm but making contact with her body, who would be facing prosecution? Him, her or both of them?