Many people don’t realize that men are also victims of sexual assault and rape. This CNN article profiles two men’s stories. One in six men report sexually abusive relationships, according to research presented in the article.
Part of a RAINN campaign to raise knowledge about the experiences of and resources for both men and women rape survivors.
Dr. Naomi,
Stories like this are SO important to share. I imagine being a male survivor is a very hard thing to come to grips with. Since men are socialized to take pride in sexual exploits, distinguishing the difference between consent and assault can be even murkier for a survivor who is struggling to come to terms with something painful, especially when his feelings are a direct contradiction to what society is telling him he should feel.
I think this post really brings the issue of male victims of rape and sexual assault to the spotlight. It is so easy for people to automatically assume women are always the victims in every sexual assault instance, but in some cases, that isn’t true. With all of the preaching men receive on making sure their partner gives consent, I think it is very easy for men who have been victims to blame themselves or assume it was their own fault for what happened. People need to understand that although women are more likely to be victims of sexual assault, they are not the only ones who it could happen to.
When I was in high- school I definitely had no idea that rape even existed for men. It is a huge problem that needs to be talked about more today in society- at home and at school is a good place to start! It is just not true that men don’t experience rape and as hard it is to stand up for yourself as a women, I cant imagine how hard it is to say you were raped as a man.
Hey Dr. Naomi,
This is such a coincidence because I was talking with Dr. Farrell about some of our class content and we went into how men are more likely to not say anything than say something because they don’t want to seem emasculated. She actually knows a friend of a friend who was in an abusive relationship and he finally got out of it and had to get a restraining order out on his wife. I feel like if men weren’t put into that box we talked about at the beginning of the semester, they would be able to leave an abusive relationship. Likewise, maybe men wouldn’t feel like they have to assert dominance or prove their masculinity by abusing women.
Thanks for bringing this article to our attention!
Meghan
Dr. Naomi,
This article was very interesting. I feel like it is important to share stories like this because it is a common occurrence that people in society think that men can only be the attacker not the victim. I will admit the first time I realized men could be sexually assaulted was while watching Law and Order SVU while I was in high school. In that particular episode a boy had been sexually assaulted by an older woman. Throughout the episode characters made comments on how it could not be true and someone must be lying because women did not do that. I think it was a pretty good representation on how society would react if they heard something like that. But the truth is that it does happen. And I think in those cases it is even harder for the victims to come forward because they feel like they will receive similar or harsher responses. Since they are suppose to be more masculine I think society has a tendency to not see them as victims when they are just as much a victim as a woman who has been sexually assaulted.
Dr. Naomi,
This is a very informative post. In today’s society people often do not even consider the fact that men can be victims of rape or sexual assault. Both of these stories that were shared discuss how men were raped or taken advantage of by other men. However, it is very seldom that people discuss how men can be raped or taken advantage of my women. I feel like this is something that occurs often on college campuses, yet it is not even considered. I have also heard people say that men can’t be raped by women, which is simply not true. If a woman is drunk and engages in sexual activity with a male, the male is at fault, however, I feel like it does apply the other way around. This is something that has confused me for years.