This article stuck out to me after reading the statists of my last blog post I wanted to know why the sexual assault of males isn’t talked about like sexual assault of women is. This article states that a lot of what causes men to not come forward is the way it happened, there’s so much pressure on young men surround sex, a lot of times even if they don’t want to engage in the activities, they feel forced because of what society teaches young men. The double standard of men assaulting young girls is seen as disgusting and traumatic, whereas an older woman assaulting a young boy is seen at “educational’ or “the dream” when it’s not, it’s as equally traumatic as it is the other way around. This trauma in boys can lead to years of psychological damage and the fear of not being believed is just as real for boys as it is girls. Not to mention the lack of support they receive, their peers may believe it happened, but they wouldn’t believe that it was unwanted. There needs to be equal support for men and women who are victims of sexual assault, it’s hypocritical to not support men like we do women.
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I have always had an interest in this topic as well! I don’t see how sexual harassment and sexual assault against males is different from females. I think that this response has a lot to do with the way society see’s and values men and women. Women are seen as delicate and in need of help, which makes it easier to see a woman as a victim. Men however are taught from a very young age that they are their own protectors and power is their strength. So when a man/boy is assaulted or harassed the first response is to question their masculinity and/or society doesn’t take it serious because “they are men and are suppose to be strong”.