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Male sexual assault and rape may involve forcible rape committed by other males or by females as well as statutory rape of minors by adult females.
Rape of males by males
Male on male rape occurs in incest, incestuous rape, and other situations, (such as prison or other similar settings) where men and boys are dependent on elder males and/or are unable to escape stronger males. There are few reliable statistics on male-male rape. Since there is no known uniform gender-neutral data on all forms of rape it is impossible to distinguish how many males were raped by males versus those males raped by females.
Men, young men and boys suffer rape-related trauma by rape and sexual assault just as female victims do. Many males who were survivors of male rape choose to suffer in silence rather than risk reporting the crime. These victims consider the shame of disclosure and their likely shunning by peers, as worse than the crime itself; a form of double-bind shame similar to the double-bind blame that male-female rape victims often face. Incest by fathers or incestuous rape of male children by adult men or by older and/or physically larger males in responsible roles is an especially traumatic form of sexual crime against males that has gained widespread national attention in the United States due to the recent Roman Catholic sex abuse cases. Male-male rape often does deep damage to or destroys the survivor's image of himself as a man which may cause him to feel helpless and alone among other men.
When a male is raped (by a male or female) the involuntary physiological response of erection or ejaculation cannot be taken to imply that the act was welcomed by the victim. A capable assailant, male or female, can induce these involuntary physical responses in the majority of males with force and/or with deception. Likewise, in incest or incestuous male-male rape, 'voluntary' initiation, 'voluntary' participation, and involuntary enjoyment by the victim, do not imply that the sexual assault is consensual, less loathsome, or less traumatic to the victim. Many people mistake these involuntary physiological effects, falsely, as indications of consent, when in fact the male rape victims have no more control over his involuntary physiological responses than do female rape victims.
Male-on-male rape does not imply homosexuality. People often view the male aggressor as a homosexual, and may think of the recipient as having homosexual tendencies too, especially if he shows signs of sexual stimulation during the experience. Research indicates that the most common form of male-male rape is group rape by other males who rape males who are considered less than 'real' men or latent homosexuals; therefore it is a mistake to perceive the rapists as homosexuals in these cases too. A male rape victim will often experience involuntary erection when forcibly penetrated by rapists of either gender but that does not mean that he is homosexual or that he enjoys the rape. To falsely label a male rape victim 'homosexual' just because his rapist was male can cause the rape victim double-bind shame in cultures where discrimination against homosexuals is rampant.
See also
Further reading
- Anderson, Peter and Struckman-Johnson, Cindy, Sexually Aggressive Women: Current Perspectives and Controversies, Guilford, 1998.
Male survivors
- Dorais, Michel, Don't Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys, McGill-Queen Univ Press, 2002.
- Mezey, Gillian, and King, Michael, Male Victims of Sexual Assault, Oxford, 2000.