Tags
assault, Male rape, New York Times, publish apology, rape, violence against men, violence against women
It was brought to my attention that my last post made a gross error and totally ignored the fact the women are not the only ones who are assaulted and raped. This is very true and I very much apologise for ignoring the very serious fact that men are also raped and that they too cannot be too careful!
To make up for it, or on the road toward making up for it, I offer men this post. Here are the numbers:
“Men and boys are often the victims of the crimes of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and rape. In fact, in the U.S., about 10% of all victims are male.” – RAINN.org
“It is not uncommon for a male rape victim to blame himself for the rape, believing that he in some way gave permission to the rapist (Brochman, 1991). Male rape victims suffer a similar fear that female rape victims face — that people will believe the myth that they may have enjoyed being raped.” – New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
“While most experts agree women are raped far more often than men, 1.4 percent of men in a recent national survey said they had been raped at some point. The study, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that when rape was defined as oral or anal penetration, one in 71 men said they had been raped or had been the target of attempted rape, usually by a man they knew. (The study did not include men in prison.) And one in 21 said they had been forced to penetrate an acquaintance or a partner, usually a woman; had been the victim of an attempt to force penetration; or had been made to receive oral sex.” – New York Times, “Men Struggle for Rape Awareness”
“[M]ore than half of men who had been raped said the assailant was an acquaintance.” – New York Times,
Male rape is a very real and unfortunately highly ignored issue. In January of 2012 the Federal Government changed its definition of forcible rape to include male victims who had been completely left out in the old definition of, “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will” – New York Times, “U.S. to Expands Its Definition of Rape in Statistics”.
As one of my readers pointed out to me, women who commit rape are often given lessor recompense for their crimes. Men are also subjected to more ridicule and blaming if they confess that they were raped. “But for many men, the subject is so discomfiting that it is rarely discussed — virtually taboo, experts say, because of societal notions about masculinity and the idea that men are invulnerable and can take care of themselves” – New York Times, “Men Struggle for Rape Awareness”.
I am very sorry that I was a part of the problem, ignoring the very real fact that women are not the only ones walking around in fear. Thank you everyone who wrote me and pointed out my blinders! I will gladly go back and amend my old post to remove the biases I had. The truth is, none of us can be too careful these days! It is sad that we live in a world were we have to post signs reminding grown adults that “no means no”.
Confessions of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl 
The “1 in 71 men have been raped” stat from the CDC survey doesn’t tell the whole story. It defines “rape” as the attacker penetrating the victim, which excludes women who use their vagina to rape a man (rape by envelopment) which is counted as “made to penetrate”. The very same survey says “1 in 21 men (4.8%) reported that they were made to penetrate someone else,” which is far more than 1 in 71. Also, the study says that 79.2% of male victims of “made to penetrate” reported only female perpetrators, meaning they were raped by a woman.
The above, lifetime stats do show a lower percentage of male victims (up to 1.4% rape by penetration + 4.8% made to penetrate = 6.2%) than female victims (18.3%). However, if you look at the report’s stats for the past 12 months, just as many number of men were “forced to penetrate” as women were raped, meaning that if you properly include “made to penetrate” in the definition of rape, men were raped as often as women.