Research Proposal

Merav Kleinmann

Professor Goeller

Research Proposal

10/17/2016

Working Title: Male Sexual Assault: Overcoming Barriers

Topic: The focus of the paper will be sexual assault on males, specifically the barriers that prevent males from reporting their assaults on college campuses. The paper will explore how the public’s perception of male rape, male rape myths, gender roles/sexism, heavy stigmatization, victim orientation, gender of perpetrator, and assault circumstances negatively affect male victims and lead to more rapes and assaults going unreported. Male sexual assault victims are erased and marginalized, largely unacknowledged by society, and often their assault is not considered legitimate for any combination of the factors listed above. What can colleges do to help break down some of those barriers and rape myths so male sexual assault like can be treated as the serious issue it is?

Research Question: What are the barriers that stand in the way of male sexual assault victims reporting their assault, why do they exist, and how do they affect the victim? Why is male sexual assault treated the way that it is, and what can colleges do to help break down these barriers?

Theoretical Frame: Sexual assault on males is a very real problem, but for many reasons, including male rape myths, gender roles, sexism, and heavy stigmatization, male sexual assault is often not considered possible or legitimate.

Typically, men are assumed to be the gender to always be seeking out sex, so they are usually assumed to be the perpetrator of sexual assault, while females are the victims. Men are considered the stronger sex, and for this reason it’s thought that it’s not physically possible for a male to be raped by a female, which erases male victims of sexual coercion. If a male victim derives physical pleasure from an assault, which is fairly common, the assault is even less likely to be taken seriously. If a male victim was physically overpowered by a female during an assault, reporting it will call their masculinity into question as well as the legitimacy of their victimhood (“Why didn’t you fight harder? She’s just a girl.”). These harmful stigmas and beliefs erase male victims of female perpetrators and makes it very unlikely for them to report their assault. Because these beliefs are so widely held, they dictate how the victim will be treated by law enforcement, as well as family and friends.

The sexual assault of males is often pigeonholed into prison rape and rape in the LGBTQ+ community. It’s pushed aside as a problem for “others”, when in reality sexual assault on males by both male and female perpetrators can occur in any setting, including college campuses. College-age males are much more likely to be assaulted than males of other ages. This really illustrates the need for colleges to implement education programs and support services for male victims of sexual assault. Right now, it’s largely ignored and considered a non-issue,

It can be very difficult to identify the statistics of male sexual assault. Many cases of male sexual assault go completely unreported due to the barriers. Numbers can vary wildly from study to study, because the legal definitions of male sexual assault vary from area to area. Until 2012, the FBI defined rape as “carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and without her consent.” (“UCR Program Changes Definition of Rape.”) In 2013, they updated it to read “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” This is slightly better than the previous definition, but still erases many of the kinds of sexual assaults which happens to males. It only include assaults where a male is forcibly penetrated, and don’t include assaults where a male is forced to penetrate, again erasing many female-on-male assaults. How can a victim of one of these other forms of assault come forward when in many places their assault is not included in the legal definition of rape, which is basically the bare minimum for rape reporting?

“Male Sexual Assault Victims A Selective Review of the Literature and Implications for Support Services” by Michelle Lowe explores the prevalence of sexual assault on males, the effects of sexual assault on a male victim, and the roles the victim’s orientation and the gender of the perpetrator play in how the public regards a male victim and his assault. Support services will be one of the focuses of my essay, as an answer to the question “what can colleges do?” Implementing support services across college campuses is the solution to the issues raised in my thesis.

“Attributions of Victim Responsibility, Pleasure, and Trauma in Male Rape” by Damon Mitchell et al. is a study that explores attitudes of both females and males towards the sexual assault of a male by a male perpetrator. It discusses how these attitudes impact whether or not a victim will report and why. Gay men are less likely to report because they are afraid that they will be perceived by law enforcement and others as “asking for it” or as having enjoyed the assault (similar to how men raped by women would be perceived as not legitimate victims because they enjoyed it). This also illustrates how sexual orientation and gender of perpetrator play a direct role in creating a barrier between victims and reporting, because of their fear of how they will be perceived. Stigma is not just an external force, it is internalized by rape and assault victims, to their detriment. Stigmas affect everyone involved in sexual assault; the perpetrators, who might use these notions to justify their crime, the victims, who will (as the article discusses) self-blame for their assault, and the public (including law enforcement, family, and friends), whose attitude towards male sexual assault will affect whether or not a victim will report.

With these and other barriers preventing victims from either reporting their assault or divulging it to family or friends, victims are forced to keep their assault to themselves, despite the toll that may take on their well-being and mental health. Isn’t being a sexual assault victim enough of an ordeal without society punishing male victims for existing, inflicting further hardship on the victims?

Research Plan: I also want to answer to what extent males are affected by their assault emotionally/mentally as a way to prove the legitimacy of sexual assault on males. I want to show that sexism towards male is not only possible but hurts the male sexual assault victim and creates barriers which stop them from reporting. I want to show that gender roles hurt both genders and allow rapists to exploit others without consequence. I also would like to answer the question about what colleges can potentially do to help break down barriers, through education, awareness campaigns, and offering support services.

I also plan on watching the documentary “The Hunting Ground”.

Works Cited:

• Sable, Marjorie R., Fran Danis, Denise L. Mauzy, and Sarah K. Gallagher. Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault for Women and Men: Perspectives of College Students. Journal of American College Health. N.p., Nov. 2006. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
• Lowe, Michelle. Male Sexual Assault Victims: A Selective Review of the Literature and Implications for Support Services. ResearchGate. N.p., 9 July 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
• Lowe, Michelle, Paul Rogers, and Jennifer Gilston. Examining the Relationship Between Male Rape Myth Acceptance, Female Rape Myth Acceptance, Victim Blame, Homophobia, Gender Roles, and Ambivalent Sexism. ResearchGate. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
• Mitchell, Damon, Gordon C. Nagayama Hall, and Richard Hirschman. Attributions of Victim Responsibility, Pleasure, and Trauma in Male Rape. ResearchGate. Journal of Sex Research, Nov. 1999. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
• Larimer, Mary E., Amy R. Lydum, Britt K. Anderson, and Aaron P. Turner. Male and Female Recipients of Unwanted Sexual Contact in a College Student Sample: Prevalence Rates, Alcohol Use, and Depression Symptoms. ResearchGate. Sex Roles, Feb. 1999. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
• Scarce, Michael. Same-Sex Rape of Male College Students. University of Minnesota Duluth. Journal of American College Health, Jan. 1997. Web. 18 Oct. 2016.
• “UCR Program Changes Definition of Rape.” FBI, 15 July 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016