Call for UK strategy to end violence against men and boys

A new report on male victims of sexual violence has called for a national strategy to deal with violence against men and boys.

The report, produced by Mankind UK’s CEO, Martyn Sullivan, with funding from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust recommends that the UK government produce a “partner document to the existing Violence Against Women and Girls strategy to highlight the plight of male victims within the UK.

Martyn came to the conclusion after traveling to Australia, the US and Canada to explore how other countries are dealing male victims of rape and childhood sexual abuse.

The report confirms that an around 1 in 6 men in the UK have been raped or sexually abused and suggests anecdotally that around 30% of men accessing services in Sussex to deal with incidents from their childhood, were abused by women.

The main recommendation of this report is that the existing specialist male agencies in the UK need to create a specific forum to provide:

• An identifiable body for Government, Health etc to consult with on issues relating to men as victims of sexual violence
• An identifiable body to meet and form links with Rape Crisis to create a cooperative partnership that respects the remit of their work
• An identifiable body to link with other male agencies internationally.

The report provides a fascinating narrative of the emergence of men as victims in women-focused services and the tensions that arise when trying to support male victims within the context of female-focused and feminist sector.

Click here now to read some of the highlights or read the full report by clicking here now.

About glenpoole

Glen Poole is UK co-ordinator for International Men's Day, Director at the consultancy Helping Men and news editor of insideMAN magazine. Follow him on twitter @HelpingMen or find out more about his work at www.helpingmen.co.uk.

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