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MEN SUBJECTED TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT
Training, Education and Seminar Series Project
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Chair of Launch Michelle Hogan, Acting Director
Womens Health Statewide

• Partnership Representatives
• Tracey Sloan, Womens Health Statewide
• David Tully, Uniting Care Wesley Adelaide, Side
  Street Counselling
• Dr Donna Chung Dr Patrick OLeary, Research and
  Education Unit on Gendered Violence, University
  of South Australia

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MEN SUBJECTED TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT
Training, Education and Seminar Series Project
Launched by Hon. Jay Weatherill Minister
for Urban Development and Planning Administrati
ve Services Gambling
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Men who were sexually abused as
childrenResearch and Practice Perspectives

• Susanne Baylis, Uniting Care Wesley Adelaide,
  Counselling Services
• Patrick OLeary, University of South Australia,
  School of Social Work and Social Policy, Research
  and Education Unit on Gendered Violence
• David Tully, Uniting Care Wesley Adelaide, Side
  Street Counselling Service

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Prevalence

• Statistics Vary
• Over 30 of confirmed reports of child sexual
  abuse involve male victims (Fergusson and Mullen,
  1999)
• 2.5 to 36 of males
• 6 to 62 of females
• Variance due to different definitions and the
  fact that most cases of Child Sexual Abuse goes
  unreported.
• Most conservative estimates put the prevalence at
  about 1 in 6 males have been sexually abused
  whilst under the age of 18 years.

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Relationship to Perpetrator
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Disclosure

• Males are less likely to disclose child sexual
  abuse at the time.
• This consistent across a wide range of studies

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Responding to Disclosure A community
responsibility The need for an appropriate
response

• The overwhelming majority of men and women who
  disclosed at the time of the abuse reported an
  inadequate or negative response. Preferred
  confidants were normally family or friends.
• 68 of men recalled that they would have liked to
  of told someone at the time of the abuse, but
  felt unable to do so.
• Both disclosure and an unmet need to disclose at
  the time were associated with increased adverse
  effects in later life.
• This leaves children in an invidious position.

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• I was so embarrassed that couldnt find the
  words to say exactly what he was doing but hell I
  tried often enough. Now I wonder why they didnt
  guess something was wrong
• If I could have found sexual abuse in the white
  pages I would have come forward earlier.. Ive
  had to tell so many people just to get here to
  the group, social security, community support
  workers, doctors and counsellors.

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Later Disclosure and Discussion about Childhood
Sexual Abuse
Men take significantly longer than women to
discuss experiences of childhood sexual abuse, in
many cases more than 10 years.
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What makes it difficult for males to disclose
experiences of childhood sexual abuse?

• Many common reasons for both women and men
• Fear, manipulation, threats, confusion, not being
  believed etc
• More specific to men
• Dominant stereotypes of masculinity
• Homophobia
• Myths about males and sexual victimisation

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Later Disclosure and Discussion about Childhood
Sexual Abuse

• 'Well, its just keeping a secret, not letting
  anybody into your past. Your so frightened
  basically of what your family might say against
  you, or scared of reliving the past, that you
  dont want to bring it up. I had what happened in
  the back of my mind all of the time, but it felt
  like if I dont say anything to anybody, well one
  day I might just end it. And if I went to my
  grave no one else would ever know what happened
  to me'.

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Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Men

• Men who were sexually abused as children were 10
  times more likely to report suicidal ideation and
  PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
• 17.2 of community men qualified for a clinical
  diagnosis compared to 65.8 of men who were
  sexually abused as children.

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You know its really hard to talk about
because I just rolled over and took it and
didnt do anything about it. So every day I think
about I feel like a piece of crap. Thats why I
dont like thinking about it.
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Recurring Themes For Males

• Feeling like things wont ever get better.
• Feeling different to other people.
• Thinking I must have asked for the abuse.
• Confusion about things generally.
• Feeling that people will not believe me if I
  tell them about the abuse.
• Using alcohol and drugs to cope.
• Not feeling worthy to be a man.
• Thinking I need to prove myself sexually.
• Confusion about my sexual identity.
• Feeling depressed.
• Nagging thoughts of suicide.
• Intense Anger.

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More specific effects and considerations

• Fears and confusion concerning masculinity and
  identity
• The influence of homophobia
• Media and societal myths concerning victims
  becoming perpetrators, and the resulting fears
• Coping often involves suppression
• Self medication (i.e. drug use)
• Denial
• Isolation
• The influence of gender and power relations
  between men and women
• Excusing abusive or violent behaviour

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Masculinity and Identity

• Dominant ideas about masculinity dont leave
  space for being seen as a victim.
• I would always remember the abuse, always
  remember the abuse, but never acknowledged its
  effects. Im a man and dont want to be seen as
  anything else.

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Influence of Homophobia

• I was only just starting to understand about
  sex. That it was something that only a male and
  female participated in and anything else was not
  natural. I thought that because I hadnt tried to
  fight him off or died trying, that meant I
  encouraged it and must have wanted to happen and
  was queer myself.

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Victim to Offender

• I heard some statistic on the TV that 50 to 60
  percent of people that are molested, can end up
  doing it to other children in later life. This
  made my worst fears come to life, because I know
  how what happened to me affected me, and I
  couldnt bear doing that to another child. I
  didnt want that.

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• Well I often heard them described them
  (offenders)as sick. But I dont think this is
  right because if they are sick there must be some
  of medical problem and I dont think it is. It
  just lets them off the hook.

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Excusing of abusive and violent behavior

• Often psychological theory draws direct
  connection between experience of abuse and
  violent behavior
• Dominant mens culture sets context for
  justifying violent and abusive behaviour. Men who
  experience abuse experience this culture
• Many men who experience abuse do not use violence
  and take clear position against violence.
• It is argued that direct casual explanation are
  not helpful assumption in working with men who
  are using violence in relationships

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Coping often involves suppression

• Strategies such as denial, self medication
  (alcohol and other drugs) and isolation are often
  mechanisms men employ
• These strategies all have effects on the mans
  psychological and emotional well being
• This therefore effects the wider networks of
  relationships and community that they are
  involved in e.g. family, friends, work,education

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• You always think people are trying to deceive
  you or work on you. Your always wary looking for
  ulterior motives. After a while you start to
  isolate yourself
• Ive noticed I become cut off, not being there
  on a psychological level and a physical level.
  Its like a way of coping, separating yourself
  from all that happened

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Social Context Of Sexual Abuse

• Extent of sexual abuse raised as a social issue
  by womens movement over the last thirty years.
• Recently sexual abuse of men became more of a
  prominent issue and body of knowledge and service
  delivery models is emerging
• Sexual abuse of male children and adolescents
  occurs within a male dominated culture
• Sexual abuse of males(as with females) is
  predominately perpetrated by older men

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Future Directions

• Research
• Disclosure what is the experience like for
  children today
• Community attitudes
• Mens coping
• Community Development
• Improving knowledge/recognition and responses
• Prevention and education strategies
• Service Provision
• Professional development for all workers
• Need for more specialist services across South
  Australia
• Policy and Legal
• Clear position statements
• Institutional review and acknowledgement of
  sexual abuse
• Increased support for victims through process

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Community Development

• Strategies to raise profile of men and sexual
  abuse through a range of awareness raising
  activities e.g. advertising, education,
  accessible information
• Organisations need to support intervention and
  prevention strategies that acknowledge sexual
  abuse occurs to both men and women.
• This would allow clients to more readily raise
  the issue if they choose to with family, friends
  and service providers.
• More awareness in general community would allow
  facilitate greater support for men and women
  subjected to abuse in social networks

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Service Provision

• All workers in the human service needs to receive
  appropriate level of training around responding
  to sexual abuse. This includes entry level
  training, specialist/specific training and
  ongoing professional development
• The purpose of the training is to allow service
  providers to be more able to effectively respond
  to disclosure of experiences of abuse
• Desperate need for more specialised service to
  provides counselling and other service to men and
  women who have been subjected to childhood sexual
  abuse

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• When you do build up the courage and energy to
  tell someone for them to not believe you its
  devastating. Opening up things so deep and
  personal is so hard, one of the worse things is
  that could ever happen is that you arent
  believed

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Hopeful quotes

• Not blaming yourself helps, you were an
  innocent child and they were an adult. You feel
  bad.. I was going to do myself in..but if you do,
  you dont win, your parents dont win..he
  wins..theyve broken your spirit..he thought he
  would always have me..he was wrong
• Shifting the blame, knowing that you werent
  responsible. Also being my own man has helped...I
  am what I am. I try not to conform..I dont want
  to be one of the crowd, Ive had that..and I
  dont want that

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A Final Word

• I would have loved to have been able to have
  gone to my parents and said this has happened.
  But it was not possible. So I think the best
  thing to do is to know that this situation
  sexual abuse does not define you as a person -
  it doesnt dictate whats going to happen to
  you... but to a certain extent it will if you let
  it, it can overrun your life So I think hiding
  is the worst thing to do, but its hard because
  of the shame in society especially as a man.

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MEN SUBJECTED TO CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT
Training, Education and Seminar Series Project

• A Partnership Between
• Research and Education Unit on Gendered Violence,
  University of South Australia
• Womens Health Statewide
• Uniting Care Wesley, Adelaide
• Funded by the Department of Human Services, South
  Australian Government

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Men Subjected to childhood Sexual Assault
Training, Education and Seminar Series

• One Day Seminar on Thursday 22 April 9.30 4 pm
  (see Registration Forms)
• Training in Country Regions
• Berri (booked out) 18 19 March
• Mount Gambier 11 12 march
• Port Pirrie 1 2 April

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Men Subjected to childhood Sexual Assault
Training, Education and Seminar Series

• Focus Group with men for the development of
  resources to be held April/May Please contact
  Kristina for involvement. kristina.birchmore_at_unisa
  .edu.au
• Anticipated availability of the Resource for Men
  at the July Forum
• Launch of the Report/Resource Guide for Practice
  with Men subjected to childhood sexual abuse to
  be available at the July Forum
• Evaluation forms to assist in the further
  development of the forums (please complete at the
  conclusion of the presentation)