So I got into a minor argument with someone who said that men aren't raped or assaulted as much as women. (EDIT: Poor wording on my end. What they were saying is that men don't have any right to complain about SA because it doesn't happen to them nearly as much.)

So I said this:

"1 in 6 men in the US have been victims of contact sexual violence in their lifetime if you use the broadest definition (that includes 1 in 71 men as victims of rape and 1 in 14 men as victims of being made to penetrate, which isn’t legally classified as rape under many state jurisdictions).

You can draw your own conclusions form the following data from the CDC:

  • 87% of male victims of (completed or attempted) rape reported only male perpetrators.
  • 79% of male victims of being made to penetrate reported only female perpetrators.
  • 82% of male victims of sexual coercion reported only female perpetrators.
  • 53% of male victims of unwanted sexual contact reported only female perpetrators.
  • 48% of male victims of lifetime non-contact unwanted sexual experiences reported only male perpetrators.
  • 46% of male victims reported being stalked by only female perpetrators.
  • 43% of male victims reported being stalked by only male perpetrators.
  • 8% of male victims reported being stalked by both male and female perpetrators.
  • 97% of men who experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner had only female perpetrators.

The statistics are likely much higher are likely much more because and we just don’t know, because men are known for not reporting crimes against them due to fears of vitriol, disbelief, and other punishments, or people thinking that they should enjoy what they go through. As an example quoted in the article below, “

A 2018 survey of 1,200 adults found that 1 in 3 would not quite believe a man who said he was raped by a woman, and 1 in 4 believed men enjoy being raped by a woman.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/02/22/why-we-dont-talk-about-sexual-violence-against-boys-why-we-should/

“

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have services to protect women, but don’t eliminate the existence of all those men who suffer in silence because society views rape against men as a non-issue. These facts exist and cannot be ignored."

Their response? "That number sounded like absolute bullshit, so I looked it up. Rutgers says 1 in 33, which sounds far closer to reality."

It feels like people just don't care about facts and instead whatever fits their narrative. I have no idea how I'm going to reach these kinds of people.