Men Are Awesome

Wk1. Male Sexual Violence

Last week, I vowed to dig into men's issues and really be honest about what is happening to men and boys in the wake of of our social climate. I've been knee deep in statistics and publications, horrified at what I found. Among the most horrendous was the issue of sexual violence.

There are two fascinating aspects of male sexual violence that I wanted to write about. The first is how excluded male sexual violence is from the conversation of, sexual violence. The second is the numbers, and they are mind blowing. I did not know how bad these two areas of sexual violence negatively impact our society as a whole. Oh, but they do!

When you look into male sexual violence online, it is practically non-existent. Initially, I expected to find some quick stats and an article or two. Write it all up and be done with it. Sadly that wasn't the case, because the data just isn't there. Every study or accumulation of reports doesn't include all of the different types of assault. When they do studies for women, they choose all the places that women are assaulted the most; sexual harassment, date rape, etc. When they do studies for men, they choose all the same places! Why?! Men are extremely vulnerable in prison, but that data isn't included in rape stats. Sports, camp, school, entertainment are all overlooked. Also, women forcing men to have sex isn't considered rape by most standards. The so called "made to penetrate" label was a failed attempt at trying to categorize the act of a woman forcing a man to have sex, while simultaneously not calling it rape. Its refered to as sexual assault. I could go on and on, but you get the gist. There isn't enough data.

Before anyone can asses these things, we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that they're happening. So what do we know so far? It probably goes without saying but it's estimated that 90% of male sexual assault goes unreported. In 2014 National Crime Victimization Survey asked 40,000 households about rape and sexual violence, 38% of incidents were against men. 46% of the perpetrators are women. The American Journal of Public Health, AJPH, has information about the subject for sale. That's right, you have to pay to access "public health" information. 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey has the most comprehensive statistics available as far as I can tell. There are others, but the glaring gap in the way sexual violence data is collected makes it impossible to trust. And worst of all is the disgraceful treatment of the victims. There's hardly any support for the victims of male sexual violence. And victim blaming is the normal response. 

Why aren't these studies including prison or "made to penetrate" data? Why aren't there any considerations or projections about the unreported sexual assault of men. Where are the treatment centers for male victims? Why don't we care about men and boys who are victims of rape? I'll tell you why, because admitting men experience sexual violence nearly as often as women would be admitting that women don't suffer any more than men. The feminists would have everyone believe that men are the perpetrators of all that is evil in this world. But that's bullshit, genders have different issues, but equal problems. I hope that men will speak out and demand that sexual violence against them be documented. I hope that women will see this and advocate for true equality for our men. 

If you need help, please don't hesitate, reach out. 

https://www.rainn.org/get-help