By Sara Girardi
In both my high school and university careers, I’ve heard countless stories of sexual violence; in fact, I can’t think of a single female friend of mine that hasn’t experienced this form of violence in some way. Whether it be unwanted physical contact at the club or more extreme cases of rape, almost everyone knows a woman that has been affected by sexual violence. I recently noticed that with all these cases–not only in my own life, but also in the media–we tend to focus on violence against women and stray away from talking about violence against men. Although the prevalence of female assault cases is significantly higher than that of male assault cases, sexual assault against men is still an issue that we must bring to light.
Because of the lack of media coverage, or even the lack of men willing to talk about assault, I found myself wondering whether or not male sexual violence was truly as big of an issue as I had assumed. To my disappointment, I soon found out that it was. The Sexual Assault Centre in Hamilton and Area (SACHA) estimates that 1 in 6 men will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, which translates into thousands of Canadian boys and men being subjected to abuse every year. However, this fact is unknown to many people. Over the years, it has been noted that males who undergo such experiences are less likely to disclose them than females. But why?
Historically, male assault has been shrouded in secrecy due to stigma. Generally, this stigma was rooted in the idea that any expression of pain diminished one’s manliness. Men were often left feeling that they could not admit to being assaulted because it might reflect negatively on them. Additionally, men often thought that they would be blamed for their own attack because they couldn’t protect themselves, which again raised the issue of manliness. For both these, and many other reasons, men are often left to endure their trauma alone and without any personal or professional help.
This also leaves men at a greater risk for the development of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, drug abuse, suicidal thoughts and attempts, problems in relationships, and underachievement in both a school and work setting after they have experienced sexual violence.
All of these statistics beg the question: what exactly are we doing about this?
The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has created The Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse, which is a program that offers help for men that have been abused at any point in their life. This is the first program of its kind in Canada. It also offers a 24-hour, multilingual phone line for immediate crisis and referral services: 1-866-887-0015. In addition, The Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres has on online system that helps you find the nearest sexual assault counselling centers.
Despite these steps, much more needs to be done to help survivors and to de-stigmatize male assault. I think this begins with raising awareness and simply starting the conversation. We can stop the stigma–and we should start today.
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