Judgments About Male Victims of Sexual Assault by Women: A 35-Year Replication Study

Sexual assault of men by women has received increasing attention in recent years, as has research on rape myths about male victims. This study is a cross-generational replication of a 1984 study of college students’ judgments about male and female victims in a scenario involving a sexual assault carried out by male or female assailants. The 1984 data ( n = 172) were compared with those of a 2019 cohort ( n = 372) in a 2 (participant gender) x 2 (assailant gender) x 2 (victim gender) x 2 (cohort) factorial design to assess potential generational changes in perceptions of victims. Judgments by male participants of male victims of assaults carried out by women changed notably over time. The 2019 male cohort was less likely to judge that the victim initiated or encouraged the incident (40% in 1984 compared with 15% in 2019) and derived pleasure from it (47.4% in 1984 compared with 5.8% in 2019). In contrast, the 2019 female cohort was more likely to attribute victim encouragement (26.9% compared with 4.3% in 1984) and pleasure to the male victim (25% in 2019 compared with 5% in 1984). A similar gender pattern occurred in judgments of how stressful the event was for the male victim. Analysis of the 2019 data revealed that overall, despite scientific and cultural shifts that have occurred over the past three decades, participants continued to judge the male victim of assault by a female to have been more encouraging and to have experienced more pleasure and less stress than in any other assailant/victim gender combination. Results are discussed in relation to gendered stereotypical beliefs and male rape myths, as well as possible sensitization to power differentials inspired by the #MeToo movement. We emphasize the need for greater awareness and empirical attention to abuse that runs counter to preconceived notions about sexual victimization.

Perceptions of Common Rape: How Rape Myth Acceptance, Victim Gender, and Victim Resistance Affect Victim and Perpetrator Blame Attributions in Party Rape and Date Rape

Among rape perception studies, common types of male rape remain understudied. Using a randomized vignette design, I sampled 622 college students from a large Southwestern university to examine how victim gender and victim resistance influence blame attributions in party rape and date rape. Results revealed important interactions between victim gender, victim resistance, and rape type. Among other effects, resistance only affected victim blame in date rapes involving male victims. Results indicated that how respondents perceive victim and perpetrator responsibility, and which factors influence these perceptions, vary across rape type and victim gender. Implications for the rape perception literature are discussed.

GENDER ROLE NORM CONFORMITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION

Background. The possibility of men being perceived as sexual violence victims is constrained by stereotypical masculine gender norms, describing men as dominant and sexual opportunists, and by rape myths. These stereotypical views suggest that men cannot suffer adverse psychological consequences from sexual victimization and are less affected by it compared to women. Nevertheless, research demonstrates that men suffer psychologically from sexual victimization similar to women, and that their victimization might be associated with poorer psychological health outcomes compared to women. Additionally, scholars have argued that stereotypical gender roles and rape myths may worsen the adverse outcomes of sexual victimization. Yet, thus far, empirical research to test these hypotheses was lacking.Method. We examined the psychological consequences of sexual victimization among 696 male (n = 135) and female (n = 561) college students who self-identified as victims of sexual violence. We examined the effect of gender role norm endorsement and rape myth acceptance on the severity of self-reported psychological consequences of sexual victimization. Results. Results showed that, overall, female victims disclose psychological consequences to a greater extent than male victims. Our findings confirmed that higher endorsement of both masculine and feminine gender role norms increase the severity of psychological consequences among both men and women. Rape myth acceptance only influenced the severity of the consequences for female victims but in the opposite direction than hypothesized. Nonetheless, the odds ratio suggest that the influence of rape myth acceptance is negligible. Conclusion. With this study we point out the problematic influence gender role norms have on victims of sexual violence, particularly male victims, and the consequences they may suffer. We argue for a deconstruction of stereotypical masculine role norms in order for men to accept their victimization and talk about their experiences with others.

Problematising Young Male Victims in Twenty-First Century English Child Sexual Exploitation Policy: a Critical Discourse Analysis

Since 2000, English child sexual exploitation (CSE) policy has expanded, both in its understanding and response, to the increasing recognition and scale of the problem. Since 2011, with the move from statutory guidance to a government action plan, there was, for the first time, a substantial increase in CSE responses across English local authorities. Within English CSE policy, male victims are often referenced as a minority population in the ‘dance’ between gender-neutral and gender-specific guidance. For an observable eight-year period, specific CSE guidance was issued on ‘Boys and Young Men’ between 2009 and 2017. Using a qualitative case study methodology with 18 professionals in England, a critical discourse analysis, inspired by Foucauldian and liminality theories, was undertaken to understand the ‘ethics’ within professional perceptions of male victims in contemporary CSE policy. The key findings highlight an incongruity of existing CSE vocabulary with male victims due to overtly gynocentric connotations. This article identifies how male victims have been perceived in the ‘shadows’ of their female peers, perhaps, as a policy ‘afterthought’, with consequential professional practice. Essentially, male victims have been implicated through this gendered conceptualisation and are assembled awkwardly on the surface of mainstream CSE discourse in England.

Prevalence of adult sexual abuse in men with mental illness: Bayesian meta-analysis

Background Sexual abuse is a broad category of traumatic experiences that includes rape and any unwanted sexual contact with a body part or foreign object, whether penetrative, oral or otherwise. Although patients with mental illness have a higher risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse in adulthood, few studies investigate the proportion of male victims in this population. Their underrepresentation in research is a barrier to understanding the negative outcomes associated with sexual abuse in men. Aims We estimated the prevalence of recent (past year) and adulthood sexual abuse perpetrated by any perpetrator and separately by intimate partners in males diagnosed with a mental illness. Method To model the prevalences and heterogeneity arising from reports, we used Bayesian multilevel models. Prevalences were estimated for mixed-diagnosis, substance misuse, intellectual disability and post-traumatic stress disorder samples, and studies reporting specifically on intimate partner violence. This review was registered through PROSPERO (CRD42020169299) Results Estimated adult sexual abuse was 5.3% (95% Credibility Interval 1.6–12.8%) for past-year abuse and 14.1% (95% Credibility Interval 7.3–22.4%) for abuse in adulthood. There was considerable heterogeneity of prevalence between studies and diagnosis groups. Conclusions Our analyses show that the prevalence of sexual abuse of males diagnosed with a mental illness was much higher than for men in the general population. This has important implications regarding the proportion of undetected or untreated sexually abused men in clinical practice.

Masculinity and Men's Mental Health

A dialogue on mental health in males is seldom encountered in the popular discourse. The negligible instances which do find its mention are usually responses to, or supplementary statements to women’s issues or the general feminist discourse. The casually and liberally used ‘toxic masculinity’ is frequently laden with connotations of blame, which imply a sense of absolute agency of the concerned individuals with regard to the expression of their masculine gender identity. This research paper has been undertaken as an attempt to seek an honest, critical and objective view of the various factors influencing the mental health of males, wherein masculinity is assumed to be encompassing all such factors. In order to provide the essential context, the paper begins defining the concept of ‘masculinity’ as it is understood in the psychological discourse, followed by an inspection of the various psychological theories and constructions of ‘masculinity’ along with a brief discussion of its scales. Theoretical perspectives have then been combined with statistics to highlight the need and relevance for any research or dialogue thereof in these fields. This is followed by an investigation of the impact of Traditional Masculinity Ideology (TMI) on the overall well-being of men and on mental health in particular. Thereafter, the relation of TMI and various mental disorders in males has been examined. Furthermore, research has been provided to shed light on the incidence and helplessness of male victims of interpersonal trauma and systemic failures thereof. The newly emerging theoretical framework of Positive Psychology/Positive Masculinity (PPPM) Model has been discussed along with an exploration of its implications and its scope. The primary research undertaken within this paper has been presented which has been divided into 4 sections. Firstly, a rudimentary analysis has been conducted to test the validity and relevance of the Brannon Masculinity Scale (BMS). Thereafter, the relation of masculinity ratings with mental Health and help-seeking behaviours has been explored. The third section involves the introduction of a construct by the author, referred to as the Emotionally Active factor; its relation with mental Health and help-seeking behaviours has been analyzed. The relevance of the Emotionally Active factor has been highlighted, followed by a discussion on its implication and scope.

Fatal wild leopard attack injuries in Uttarakhand, India

Leopard attacks on human beings is common in Uttarakhand which is an area of national conservation. The objective of this study is to examine the pattern of injuries and circumstances to encourage ways of reducing such conflicts. There were eight deaths from leopard attacks brought for autopsy to the mortuary between January 2019 and August 2020. Incidents occurred mostly in a forest close to human settlements. One tourist was among the male victims, the remainder of whom were women carrying out household duties near the forest. Leopard attack injuries present in the head and neck were ante-mortem, with abdomen, buttocks and limbs post-mortem. People living at the border of protected areas need alternative means of support to enable them to avoid using forest resources, tourists must be warned to avoid wandering in the area.

Intimate partner violence during COVID-19 lockdown in Norway: the increase of police reports

Background In March 2020, the Norwegian government announced a COVID-19 lockdown in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. In Norway, lockdown measures included restricting people’s ability to leave their home and the closing of social institutions, thus reducing the capacity for victims of intimate partner violence to alert someone outside of their home about violent incidents that occurred during lockdown. At the same time, the restrictive measures forced the victim and the perpetrator to stay together for prolonged periods within the home, and reduced the possibility for them to escape or leave the perpetrator. The aim of this study was to investigate how the frequency and character of intimate partner violence reported to the police changed during the period of lockdown in Norway. Methods All cases of intimate partner violence registered in police files before the pandemic (from January 2016-February 2020) and during lockdown in Norway (March-December 2020) were included in the study, representing a total of 974 cases. Differences in the number and severity of cases were calculated using χ2-tests and Wilcoxon’s rank sum test. Differences in the characteristics of the reported violence was assessed with the Brief Spousal Assault form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) and tested with Fischer’s exact test with Bonferroni correction. Standardised Morbidity Rate (SMR) statistics were used to analyse the proportion of immigrants as compared to the general population. Results Reported intimate partner violence increased by 54% during the lockdown period in Norway. Between March-December 2020, the police assessed the cases as being at higher risk of imminent and severe violence. Our findings indicated an overrepresentation of immigrant perpetrators before and during lockdown (SMR = 1.814, 95% CI = 1.792–1.836 before, and SMR = 1.807, 95% CI = 1.742–1.872 during lockdown). Notably, while victims with an immigrant background were overrepresented before lockdown, we found significantly lower proportion of immigrant IPV victims during the lockdown period (SMR = 1.070, 95% CI = 1.052–1.087 before, and SMR = 0.835, CI 95% CI = 0.787-0.883 during lockdown). Also, there were significantly more female perpetrators and male victims reported to the police during the lockdown period. A higher proportion of the victims were assessed as having unsafe living conditions and personal problems during lockdown. Finally, during the lockdown period in Norway, a higher proportion of perpetrators had a history of intimate relationship problems. Conclusions Intimate partner violence increased dramatically during the COVID-19 lockdown. A range of options for victims to escape from their perpetrators, particularly during times of crisis, should be developed in line with good practice, and with a special focus on the most vulnerable victims.

Sexual Violence Victimization of U.S. Males: Negative Health Conditions Associated with Rape and Being Made to Penetrate

Sexual violence is a significant public health problem with long-term health implications. Previous investigations of male victimization have often relied on nongeneralizable samples to examine the health consequences of rape. Furthermore, made to penetrate (MTP) victimization has received very little attention as a specific form of sexual violence. Using data from the 2010 to 2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, we examined negative impacts (e.g., injury) and health conditions associated with experiences of rape and MTP among male victims in the United States. Results indicate that approximately 1 in 4 victims of rape-only and 1 in 12 victims of MTP-only reported physical injuries. An estimated 62.7% of rape-only victims and 59.8% of MTP-only victims reported at least one impact due to the perpetrator’s violence. Rape victims were significantly more likely than non-rape victims to report 2 of 11 health conditions measured, while MTP victims had greater odds of reporting 6 of 11 health conditions measured compared to non-MTP victims. This article fills gaps in understanding the impacts of rape and MTP on male victims, and it is the only study to do so using a large, nationally representative sample. Sexual violence is linked to serious health effects but is also preventable. Screening for violence victimization and preventing male sexual violence before it happens are both important to reduce the risk for immediate and chronic health impacts.