Britische Regierung vergibt 500.000 Pfund, um vergewaltigten Männern zu helfen

Wenn man andere Länder betrachtet, merkt man regelmäßig, wie sehr Deutschland geschlechterpolitisch hinter dem Mond lebt. Während man hierzulande selbst innerhalb der Genderstudien, dem Bundesforum Männer oder anderen Institutionen, die sich eigentlich um dieses Thema kümmern müssten, kaum über die Männer spricht, die Opfer von sexueller Gewalt werden, vergibt die britische Regierung jetzt 500.000 Pfund, um das Schweigen zu brechen und männlichen Opfern von Vergewaltigungen zu helfen. Der linke Männerrechtler Ally Fogg ist ähnlich begeistert wie ich selbst:

Today's announcement by the Ministry of Justice of a new fund for male victims of rape and sexual violence is hugely significant.

The significance is not in the sum of money. While £500,000 is more than welcome, and will make a huge difference to the funded organisations and their clients, nobody would pretend it can do more than scrape at the scale of a problem which impacts an estimated 72,000 new adult victims every year and untold numbers of children. Nor does the significance lie in acknowledgement of the problem - charities have previously been funded for limited work with male victims, and in the light of historic sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic church and social service care homes, no one can plead ignorance as to the extent of horrors involved.

The significance is not even in the campaigning victory of charities like Survivors Manchester, who have fought persistently against the flagrant injustice of male victims being explicitly excluded from funds set up to provide care and support to victims of rape and abuse - although that achievement should not be overlooked. The historic significance of today's announcement is that it marks the first time that a British government of any stripe has ringfenced any quantity of victim support funding specifically to help men and boys. It may only be half a million quid, but it is a priceless milestone.

Although male victims make up a significant minority of cases of child sex abuse and of adult sexual, domestic and relationship violence, their specific needs and circumstances are often pushed so far to the margins of debate and policy that they all but disappear. In mainstream political and media narratives, the terms sexual violence and relationship violence are taken to be synonymous with the phrase 'violence against women and girls.'

This has consequences for male victims which go far beyond access to funding and resources. The voices and views of male victims are often excluded from debates about the investigation and prosecution of sexual crimes, despite considerable evidence to show there are specific and complex issues around men's and boys' willingness to report and testify. Debates around cultures of victim-blaming often focus exclusively on women's supposed behaviour or appearance, almost never on men's sexuality, despite extensive evidence that male victims, just like female victims, are commonly assumed to have been 'asking for it.'

(...) Perhaps the strongest argument for reserved funding for male victims is that if government won't help victims, nobody will. Charities working specifically with male victims tend to be desperately under-funded, the sad truth is that they are not considered the most sympathetic causes. Social psychologists have found that both genders, but especially men, are more likely to give to women in need than to men, which is generally attributed to socialised notions of chivalry. If ever you wanted an example of the feminist dictum that patriarchy hurts men too, it is right here.

Perhaps things are slowly changing. Similar points were made for many years about funding for research into male-specific cancers, but in recent years initiatives like Movember and Men United have brought glimmers of light to the gloom. Alongside the new funding, the Ministry of Justice have thrown their weight behind the survivors' charities social media campaign, #BreakTheSilence. Further support has come from the cast of Hollyoaks, which is currently running a sensitively-handled storyline of male rape. It is perhaps this gradual, public unlocking of the issue which, more than anything, can bring hope to survivors.

Nachrichten wie diese wecken Hoffnung, dass es einmal auch in Deutschland so weit sein wird, wenn die Männerrechtsbewegung bei diesen Themen nicht locker lässt. Thomas Gesterkamp, Hinrich Rosenbrock, Ilse Lenz, Ralf Homann, Alice Schwarzer und Andreas Kemper mögen uns dämonisieren und mit rechtsextremen Massenmördern in Verbindung bringen, so sehr sie wollen. Feministische Dogmatiker mögen uns massenhaft auf Twitter spamblocken, um uns zum Schweigen zu bringen, und die #Aufschrei-Mädels mögen in Interviews krakeelen, dass nur Sexismus zu Lasten von Frauen zu zählen habe, wofür unsere Medien sie mit Preisen ehren. Die Wikipedia mag radikalfeministisch redigiert werden bis zum Exzess. Talkshows mögen uns und unsere Themen weiter so ausgrenzen wie in den letzten 15 Jahren. Aber steter Tropfen höhlt auch diesen Stein. Irgendwann müssen sich die Leute, die für den Sexismus in unserer Geschlechterpolitik verantwortlich sind, die Frage stellen lassen, warum wir hinter anderen Ländern dermaßen hinterherhinken. Und sie werden keine gute Antwort darauf haben.