After a little research to find ratios which could finally included those of us who are not CSA, I found the 1 in 6 ratio is not only exclusive, it really doesn't paint the whole picture.

For those interested:

http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims

http://www.pascalegousseland.com/work/s13.htm

http://www.prevent-abuse-now.com/stats2.htm

Lesser1,

Thank you for taking the time to research and then post these statistics. Of course one always wonders about the unreported attacks on men. I denied and lied for many months though the detectives knew I was not telling all that had happened. It was seven months later when I would amend the report at the urging of my psychiatrist. It was not easy but the investigator was very patient with me throughout that process.


Daryl

I believe the numbers are higher than anyone can begin to realize. It's like every year another man confides in me that they were CSA or ASA victims.
Daryl, thank you for all you do. I pray that you will find peace, and healing.

Thanks for the links Lesser1, there was some very insightful and helpful information. Earl

There has been nowhere near enough research to produce a clear picture of the incidence of male rape, and even less it seems for adult males. Here's a sampling of what I was able to find.

http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32361
http://thehathorlegacy.com/rape-statistics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics#United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_by_gender
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/mal...on-1428974.html
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/12/15/us-federal-statistics-show-widespread-prison-rape
http://renwl.org/news/dadt-news/men-raping-men-in-us-military-catapults-past-assaults-on-women

When there is enough data once can extrapolate the likely incidence of male adult rape from current reports plus the unreported rate. One example of this was one counsellor who said that of the 70 men he personally counseled in a year, only three had reported it. Now it seems that male rape stats in the military have powered past female rape.

Male rape is still a largely invisible epidemic.

-efm

efm,

Thank you for taking the time to find and post this information. My take? As a whole the therapeutic community has little interest in adult male sexual assault. They seem as clueless as the general public about it and do not demonstrate any real interest in changing that.

Now let's spend some big bucks on the mating cycle of the dung beetle. That ought to provide so much good for so many people.


Daryl

EFM,

Thank you for posting this. The lack of material for this flavor of the burden we share is disheartening. The statement "you are not alone" is repeated often, but your action of posting this means much more to me than hearing that 'well meaning' canned response.

Thank you,
Les

What can we do? How can we bring this subject to the place where it is taken seriously?

I was appalled when popular youtube comedian, Allen Buckle, known as "FLuffetalks," posted a video laughing and mocking a news item about a man being raped by a woman. The public comments joining in his mockery of the victim far outweighed those with any compassion. Those of us who protested the video were "shouted down" and demeaned by others leaving comments.

It falls on us to speak out on behalf of those men who have experienced this terrible crime against humanity. Before we can, those who have survived such an assault must educate those of us who have not experienced this particular type of personal violation.

In all these quoted statistics, I find it so harmful and misleading to not acknowledge the uncertainties. There's what we think is true, what we know is true, and what we can prove is true. Very different things. There's a whole lot we don't "know", and very little we can prove. Yet, lots of statistics get thrown around, often chosen with an agenda.

We deserve better. YOU deserve better.

On prison rape and sexual violence: www.justdetention.org has links to a lot of studies but it's weird how there is huge variations from less than 1% to over 20% victimized. On rates, We can prove nothing except it does happen. We "know" nothing and think about it almost not at all. That's 2.4 million people, 90% men, 70% non-white, so a huge racial bias.

I've read quite a lot about ASA of males, and I don't believe any statistics have much credibility. So let's be honest about it. We are simply guessing. We don't know a thing. Sad and upsetting to me.

My opinions I guess.

.

we know its not the whole picture. what bothers me is that i think we have a culture that doesn't care.

when i was doing the college circuit for survivors, i found success in getting people in the audience to realize "why" they should care about male victims and childhood sexual abuse - more than just "aw, how sad."

so, simple example -- they don't have to care about it for themselves since they were not a survivor... what about your buddy? what about a female friend? what about your future son? that is only the beginning -- what about the kid in your 'hood who was raped and then grows up to kill the deli store owner for cash? affect you? maybe not, but it sure affects your wallet!

the point is, somewhere along this laundry list of people and events, the audience always "got it" that at some stage everyone is going to be affected by a male victim.

counter that attitude though with a culture that still laughs at, or thinks its cool, for women to force themselves upon men.... for gay teens on tv shows to do everything they can to bed another guy even if he is straight... to any number of sexually offensive gestures, pictures, tag lines produced on madison avenue. we are a nation obsessed with sex, and guns, and it looks to me as we always have been.

me thinks that this obsession skews the stats, hurts victims, keeps status quo -- which in turn supports an illegal sex industry and legal porn and lets face it, we love our prison mentality so, the more crime (from the abused child turned violent angry adult) the better keep building big gov't.

.

All, this is a sad but real issue; male abuse is obviously a widespread problem and it seems intuitive, based on my own experience, that the abuse and subsequent impacts to men's lives have a significant real impact on our society, not just the isolated individuals who were abused.

Unfortunately, our cultures lack of recognition and acknowledgement is not surprising and is unlikely to change quickly. We all know, the masculine image is not abused, so men don't acknowledge or go public if they are abused. If there are not significant numbers of MSA victims active in pushing the 'cause', then the cultural image of masculine doesn't change. Meantime, if there isn't a 'market' for treatment or study of MSA, then it doesn't draw research or study because ultimately, that is how capitalism works - go where the money is. (That is not to paint a negative picture of individuals within our society, it's just simply how it is). So if the research and visible, vocal victims are not out there, the perception doesn't change. It's analgous, in my opinion, to so many other in equities that have prevailed throughout history - it's human nature.

So what can we do? Well first, we focus on healing ourselves because we don't do anyone any good if we aren't healthy. Then we work individually and in aggregate to raise awareness of the issue. Carry the cause, so to speak. I hate to call it activism, but to some extent, that is probably required. If we want more studies done, then we have to push for them down avenues where they can potentially occur. If we want to change the perception within our culture, we have to have visible symbols that society can recognize and begin to disassociated the negative perceptions they have with MSA.

The bottom line to me is that the perceptions of MSA within our society are not likely to change within a generation or two - but if we don't start to raise awareness of it now, then our son, daughters and generations beyond will still live with the perceptions we have now.

Didn't mean to ramble here guys, cultural impacts on individuality and all associated side effects are a hot button for me the past few years - at least I now have a 'cause' I can firmly stand behind.

i wish this website had thumbs up buttons.
i agree with all you wrote.

removing the stigma associated with being victims is also an important goal and achievement towards greater understanding, i believe. that is part of, and maybe the final stage of, the "whole picture" but it fails to sell a news story - or oprah segment.

.

I'm sorry Les. I didn't mean anyone here is upsetting me, nor an agenda I see here. I mean the lack of studies, stats like the 1 in 33 on the RAINN site (I wonder what the 90% confidence interval (estimated) would look like for example), lots of places, the justice departments inaction on prison rape,

As for linking to material, I'm sorry I don't have sources collected and organized. Often MSA is a footnote talking SA (assuming female). It's telling we have to say "male rape", "prison rape"... Like, it's not "real rape"? It would make a great thread to try to assemble something like that.

These are a few I have immediately:
http://www.justdetention.org/en/articlesandlinks.aspx with the human rights report.

Mic Hunter's SA in the Military book, which I understand was difficult to publish due to perceived lack of interest.

* 2.1% of men reported forced vaginal sex compared to 1.6% of women in a relationship in the previous year. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID45-PR45.pdf

* 94% of youth in correctional facilities reported being sexually abused by female staff. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svjfry09.pdf

* Among inmates reporting staff sexual misconduct, ~ 65% reported a female aggressor. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf

* 50% of homeless youth reported being sexually abused by a female. http://www.nursing.ubc.ca/PDFs/ItsNotWhatYouThink.pdfAll

I'm CSA not ASA. I've tried to learn as much as I can on MASA, and I try to always mention ASA and highlight it when talking male sexual abuse.