By: A Survivor Not a Victim
May 4, 2018
Sexual assault has no limit when it comes to age, race, gender, gender identity, class, education, geographical location, religion, profession, or political views. All victims are created equal in the eyes of sexual assault. That being said, one group of victims whose voices go unheard far too often is male sexual assault survivors. Rape and sexual assault happen to men too. Even if, statistically, it happens a little bit less to men than women, does that matter? No, it doesn’t. Each and every sexual assault victim has been grossly violated and suffers through an excruciating emotional trauma.
The views that the majority of society has concerning male sexual assault victims are tragic and flawed. Men are raped and sexually assaulted by both men and women. If a man dares to come forward with the information that he has been sexually assaulted, the stigma attached to that is reprehensible; it truly portrays victim blaming and shaming to an extreme level. Common views that are associated with this are “Real men don’t get raped,” “You are a man, it is impossible for you to get raped,” “Oh please, you know that you like the attention, s/he was so hot,” etc. The idea that a man is capable of being sexually assaulted is an idea that the social constructs of society dismiss, and that is simply false. Because of this, so many men live in silence with the agony of their assault, never being able to heal. For some who do come forward, they don’t receive the support they need from family and friends, as they are harshly judged and, in turn, are stigmatized. For others, they are fortunate to have wonderful family and friends who know that all sexual assault victims are the same and gender has no bearing.
The message needs to change. Awareness needs to happen. The warped social construct and views surrounding sexual assault victims, especially male victims, need to be abolished.
A Survivor Not a Victim 