Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

How does Society Respond to Male Sexual Assault Victims and its Effects
Emma Soto
RWS 1301
The University of Texas at El Paso

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

Abstract
In this essay I will discuss the issue on how men being victims of sexual assault is highly
ignored and how society treats the victims. You don't often think a man can be sexually assaulted
reason being he is a man. Men are viewed as strong and masculine, many of these victims are
embarrassed to come forward with the allegation that they have been raped or sexually assaulted.
These victims feel that they would be accused of being gay, weak, or even liars. Society has
proven that they treat these men unfairly, victims who do ask for help are sometimes denied it or
not taken seriously. This topic is highly ignored however one in ten men are victims of sexual
assault. This essay emphasizes the effects of ignoring this topic and how victims are affected
emotionally, physically, and emotionally and how they differ from women.

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

Introduction

The idea of men being victims of sexual assault is commonly unknown. Many times,
when we think about someone being raped we automatically think of a female victim. When one
out of ten men will experience sexual assault.
This has created an issue throughout society
because there are many cases of men being
sexually assaulted and it is widely ignored
throughout our modern-day society. Many of
these victims are afraid of coming forward and seeking help because they feel fear in how people
will react and think of them differently, and in addition to that, most of these victims feel
embarrassed and shameful for being a victim of sexual assault.
Reasoning of Silence
One of the biggest issues with this topic and why it is ignored is because of the silencing
of the male victims. Almost all the male victims of sexual assault chose to remain quiet and not
report these rapes/assaults because they feel embarrassed and fear the reaction of others if they
found out that they are victims of molestation and or rape. As Javaid (2016) said, it is stated that
this topic is ignored because the image of masculinity is so respected and highly viewed that
many men victims stay silent and choose not to seek for help. Also, many resources are not
available for males as they are for females.

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

Many male children are victims of sexual abuse as well. Children are often victims of a
rape and sexual abuse almost as much as adults. Many males are raped and/or abused by
somebody they know like a teacher, coach, and sometimes even a family member. Some male
children are trafficked into these kinds of situations. As Miles (2006) wrote, many young boys
are trafficked and sold, theyre abused not only by men but by women as well.

Effects of Ignoring
One of the biggest problems of this issue is that since these victims do not seek help, is
the emotion, physical and, psychological effects it has on these victims. Many of these victims
experience psychological effects like denial and extreme anger. In some cases, these victims later
become abusers as well. Men who are sexually assaulted seek mental health services frequently
do not do so until much after the assault happened; many men who lack serious physical injuries
they deny victimization. (Tewksbury, R. 2007) It is very dangerous because many of these
effects can lead to self-harming and thoughts of suicide or suicide.
It is proven that when a male is raped the assault is a lot more violent. Victims that dont
seek help also dont go to a hospital to get medical attention and they remain injured and
sometimes these injuries dont always heal properly. Some of these victims have broken bones,
broken ribs, etc. In some extreme cases these injuries can lead to death or cause more serious
injuries.
How victims are treated
Victims of such crime are not treated equally when they do reach out for help, male
victims are often looked down upon when they seek help. They are usually accused of lying,
being gay, and being weak because they were not able to fight off the attacker. For example,

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

Rumney, P. (2006) explained how police officers treat these victims, some of the victims said
that the treatment of the police officers made them feel worse than the actual offense.
The treatment coming from police officers often make the victims feel worse about the
offense instead of helping. The reason these men go to the police is for help, the police are there
for society and to help them, and these victims need it and if the police officers treat the victims
this way, then this causes the victims to fear help instead of feeling better. This causes more
silencing for future victims who hear that other victims have been treated this way.

Helpful resources
Although this topic is highly ignored, there are some helpful resources that are offered.
There isnt many, however some communities are trying to form support groups for all genders.
As Rumney (2008) explained, The Metropolitan Police Sapphire project emphasizes support for
all victims of rape and offers important information for the victims and their family for example
support groups. These types of groups
debunk male rape myths like male rape
is a gay crime and that males cannot be
raped.
Support groups like the one I
mentioned are highly helpful for these
victims mostly because they dont feel alone. These support groups give the victims an
opportunity to be surrounded by other victims of sexual assault and it gives them the opportunity
to be heard. If more of these support groups are formed throughout our society, it would give
these male victims more comfort and support in order to come forward with their stories.

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT

Statistics
Although the topic of males being victims of sexual assault is a highly ignored topic, the
statistics of it are shockingly high. Not
only in the Unites States is this an issue
but also all over the world, as Javaid
(2016) explained, In Wales England,
approximately 900 men are victims of
rape in Wales alone. Those are the statistics for 2015 and 2016 alone. In addition to that in Los
Angeles California 7.2 percent of men reported at least one instance of sexual assault after the
age of 15 as Tweksbury (2007) explained.
One of the most shocking numbers about these statistics as Tweksbury (2007) wrote is
the number of male children who experienced sexual assault as a child are 50% more likely to be
victims as adults. Apart from that they are more likely in becoming abusers themselves in their
adulthood. The numbers of men being sexually assaulted are growing drastically. In 1998, 2.78
million men in the U.S alone were sexually assaulted or raped, and in 2014 the numbers nearly
tripled.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the topic of men being sexually assaulted is over looked great. Reason
being we dont often think that men can be victims of such crime, society stereotypes sexual
assault and that it is a womens issue. One in ten men are sexually assaulted, however many of
these victims dont come forward because they are embarrassed, or afraid of societies reaction

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT
and treatment towards them. Unfortunately for the most part the treatment these victims receive
is not helpful.
References
Javaid, A. (2016). Feminism, masculinity and male rape: bringing male rape 'out of the closet'.
mmmmmJournal Of Gender Studies, 25(3)
Javaid, A. (2016). Voluntary Agencies' Responses to, and Attitudes toward Male Rape: Issues
//////////and Concerns. Sexuality & Culture,20(3) 731-748
Tewksbury, R. (2007). Effects of Sexual Assaults on Men: Physical, Mental and Sexual
-=====Consequences. International Journal of Men's Health, 6(1), 22-35.
Rumney, P. S. (2008). Policing Male Rape and Sexual Assault. Journal of Criminal Law, 72(1),
-------------67-86.
Lowe, M., & Balfour, B. (2015). The unheard victims. Psychologist, 28(2), 118-121.
Miles, G. M. (2016). Where are the Boys? Where are the Men? A Case Study from Cambodia.
Hequembourg, A. L., Parks, K. A., Collins, R. L., & Hughes, T. L. (2015). Sexual Assault Risks
=====Among Gay and Bisexual Men.

Running head: SOCIETIES RESPONSE TO MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL

ASSAULT