Experiences of men forced-to-penetrate women in the UK: Context, consequences, and engagement with the criminal justice system

iainmf · 2019-07-26T13:32:01+00:00

This is exactly the kind of research we need more of.

tenchineuro · 2019-07-26T18:33:37+00:00

Key findings

Participants most frequently reported that the perpetrator was their female partner or ex-partner, and that their forced-to-penetrate experiences were one element of domestic abuse and/or postseparation abuse that they experienced.
Participants frequently reported being repeatedly victimised. This took a number of forms including: childhood sexual abuse; repeated instances of compelled penetration by the same perpetrator; and varying types of sexual violence from multiple different perpetrators (both male and female).
Being forced-to-penetrate a woman had substantial negative impacts on men’s mental health, emotional well-being, and personal lives and relationships. These impacts included depression: PTSD; suicidal ideation and attempts; feelings of guilt, shame, and self-blame; difficulties in forming relationships; and sexual issues/dysfunction.
When participants engaged with organisations and services, they were most frequently health related, for example GPs. However, they did not always disclose their forced-to-penetrate experience(s) as being the reason behind their engagement.
Specialist male sexual and domestic violence services are important and had a positive impact on those participants who accessed them. However, not all participants were aware of their existence, or were able to access them.
Men often took several years to disclose their experience(s) to anyone.
There were numerous barriers to men disclosing and engaging with organisations and services. These included: fear of not being believed; feelings of shame, guilt, and self-blame; lack of knowledge about, and availability of, specialist male sexual and domestic violence support services; and gender expectations around masculinity.
The majority of participants did not report to the police. Of those that did report the vast majority had negative experiences with the police.
Participants had overwhelmingly negative perceptions of the police, criminal justice system, and the law. Concerns were raised around: bias against men; disbelief they can be victims of female perpetrated sexual and domestic violence; and inequality of treatment as victims under sexual offences law.
Reform of the sexual offences legislation was important to participants to ensure male survivors’ experiences are appropriately acknowledged and labelled. Suggestions were put forward for law reform, including redefining rape to include forced-to-penetrate cases.
The majority of participants labelled their forced-to-penetrate experiences as rape, even though this is not reflected in the current law.

Title	Experiences of men forced-to-penetrate women in the UK: Context, consequences, and engagement with the criminal justice system
Author	excess_inquisitivity
Upvotes	10
Comments	2
Date	July 26, 2019 11:52 AM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/ci1wc3/experiences_of_men_forcedtopenetrate_women_in_the/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/experiences-of-men-forced-to-penetrate-women-in.872575 https://theredarchive.com/post/872575

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