Sexual Assault And Rape Essay

Literature Review: The Unmet Needs of Male Victims of Sexual Assault

Jacqueline Wild

Florida State University

Introduction The issue of sexual assault affects a vast number of people in the U.S. There is plenty of research on the psychological effects of sexual assault as well as what resources and treatments work best and are available, but almost all of it is about the sexual victimization of women. While it is known that men can experience traumatic effects when assaulted or victimized, there are many myths and stereotypes that interfere with that reasoning and shape our perception of the actual extent of victimization of men when it comes to sexual assault and rape. “Rape myths,” such as “men can’t be raped,” or “she

One of the most prominent studies regarding the availability of resources for male sexual assault victims comes from Donnelly and Kenyon in 1996. The researchers contacted 30 agencies offering help for sexual victimization in Georgia including hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and rape crisis centers. Among the 30 interviewed, only one was a center designed for men and it dealt primarily with homosexual males. The researchers aimed to find how agencies would respond to male sexual assault victims. They also were interested in seeing if gender stereotypes regarding sexual assault affected whether or not the agencies saw male sexual assault as a problem, the services provided at the agencies, and the agencies’ views on male victims. Out of the 30 centers, over 1/3 did not take males, a few had dealt with them in the past but only one or two and neither in the past year, a few others had dealt with one or two men within the last year and the remaining agencies were willing to work with males but had never done so in the past. Along with providing very few resources to male victims of sexual assault, most of them agreed with myths about men’s inability to be raped, even saying that a man secretly wants to be raped (Donnelly & Kenyon, 1996). Despite the fact that males are just as likely to be mentally tormented by sexual assault, their issues are less likely to be taken seriously and their needs continue to go