Die Nöte von männlichen Opfern sexueller Gewalt verstehen

Die im US-Bundesstaat Maine erscheinende "Bangor Daily News" ist keine besonders bekannte oder einflussreiche Zeitung in den USA, heute aber wegen einem gelungenen Beitrag über sexuelle Gewalt gegen Männer der Aufmerksamkeit wert. Ein Auszug:

We are survivors, too.

Historically, those of us who are male survivors of sexual victimization are often an unrecognized, underserved and unmentioned population when the issue of sexual assault is discussed. Many of us do not even recognize or understand that we may have been victimized. Yet one in five males will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, many of us before the age of 16.

The harmful impact of the sexual victimization of males is felt daily by all of us — in our families, communities and workplaces. It is often the unspoken, unrecognized and untreated issue when we are dealing with the problems of addiction, mental health, physical health, relationship issues, domestic violence, anger management, criminal behavior and many other issues that impact boys and men. Yet many male survivors do not know there are resources available to help them recover, nor do they feel safe talking about the impact sexual victimization has had on them.

I believe we all need to work harder to create a safe climate and culture for male sexual assault survivors. It is time for us to look at sexual assault and victimization as a gender-neutral issue. All survivors of sexual victimization are in need of quality services to assist them in their recovery regardless of their gender or age.

Hier geht es weiter. Ich unterstütze die Forderungen in diesem Artikel, weiß aber auch, was für ein langer Weg vor uns liegt, wenn wir sie umsetzen möchten – erst recht, wenn man sich vor Augen führt, was für eine massive Dämonisierung von der hegemonialen Genderszene gegen uns Männerrechtler als Antwort auf unser Engagement ausgeht.