April is sexual assault awareness month. the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network has launched a video campaign featuring two men and five women telling their stories. The experience of male survivors of rape is addressed in this CNN article about RAINN’s project. While it’s difficult for any survivor to disclose sexual abuse, men face some additional stigma. Often there’s an additional sense that as men they should have been able to prevent their attack, and some male survivors struggle with questions of sexuality if their attacker is also male.
“We do know that men and boys may face issues in addition to the anxiety and fear that everyone faces,” said Katherine Hull Fliflet of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN, which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
“Feelings of self-blame can be elevated for some male survivors who have a sense of shame for not stopping abuse and feeling like less of a man because they don’t have control over their bodies, leading to additional withdrawal or isolation from friends and family.”
Because of this, there’s a phenomenon of male survivors turning to the internet for help, support, and the ability to discuss what happened with anonymity. Most sexual reports go unreported, and men are more unlikely to report than females, but online resources ranging from Reddit sub-forums to dedicated resources such as MaleSurvivor.org are beginning to give men a place to share their experience and find support to heal.
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