Providers' Perceptions on Barriers to Help-Seeking for Male Victims of Sexual Assault

Background: Sexual assault of males – particularly among adults and adolescents - is understudied and under-reported. Approximately 3 million men per year experience some form of sexual victimization, while 3% of males will experience an attempted or completed rape over the course of their lifetime. Most male survivors do not seek counseling and those who do often seek help long after the victimization took place. Though help-seeking and disclosure present challenges for all victims of sexual violence, male victims may face more specific barriers since most services are geared toward females. Effects of sexual victimization experienced by (though not limited to) men (e.g. depression, hostility, questioning of identity and masculinity, and social isolation) may be alleviated by increased utilization of services. This study seeks to understand the perceptions of service providers likely to encounter male victims of sexual assault. Specifically: What do service providers identify as barriers to help-seeking/disclosure for sexually assaulted males?

 Methods: Pen and paper surveys (n=79) were completed by administrators of two types of service providers, likely to serve male victims of sexual assault: (1) member organizations of a statewide coalition of sexual and domestic assault programs, n=42; and (2) substance abuse programs contracted by the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to serve those re-entering communities, n=37. Open-ended questions used for this study sought perspectives on barriers to male sexual assault victims’ help-seeking and providers’ assessment of differences between male and female victims. Rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) technique was used to analyze the qualitative themes. This process involves creating tables to display qualitative data, phases of data table review to identify common subjects both within and across survey questions and to reduce the data in the table to a more succinct representation in relation to the research question.

 Results: An adapted ecological framework that utilized three levels (individual-level, provider-level, societal-level) was applied to the themes that emerged to provide context. Individual-level themes included fear, shame and self-blame, and challenges talking about victimization or feelings. Provider-level barriers include lack of male specific services/treatment, resource limitations, lack of specialist providers, lack of training, and poor outreach & marketing. Societal-level barriers included male rape myth acceptance and overall lack of acknowledgement of male sexual victimization. Masculinity norms as a barrier was present in both individual-level (e.g. homophobia, assault and/or help-seeking indicate lack of masculinity) and societal-level themes (e.g. male victims are judged/blamed/stigmatized, male victims are generally unacknowledged).

 Implications: This work allows for further understanding of barriers to male help-seeking behavior through providers’ professional experience. Masculinity norms and male rape myth acceptance were noted as uniquely gendered barriers to men’s disclosure and help-seeking for sexual assault services. Knowledge of these socialized gender expectations may aid service providers in their outreach to this underserved population, as well as increasing efforts to incorporate gender responsive treatment for men. Additionally, these findings suggest the importance of advocacy for societal change, including acknowledging the existence of male victims, de-stigmatizing male victimization  and broadly, dismantling the societal structures that support and promote toxic masculinity.