Male Rape - An Invisible Problem

[Hovik]

Why's that, exactly? Because they're women?

Rape committed against men isn't even recognized often times, and it's every bit as damaging and traumatic.

Because men are more violent and do commit more rapes, the majority of which are against women. If I recall correctly, as many as one woman in five will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime-and that is without the unreported cases. I'm against any violent crime, but women get the harsher end of this particular crime.

Actually, very recent statistics demonstrate that the majority of all rapes in the United States are male-on-male prison rapes.

That aside, it doesn't matter who gets raped more often or who is most likely to rape. The fact of the matter is, rape against men does occur, and nobody recognizes that it happens. Arguing that rape against women is a bigger issue and therefore male rape isn't as important is just fundamentally irrational.

[Annik]

It's only been recently that the account of prison rape has been stirred into statistics, making man-on-man rape the most common (and now we're the only known country where this is true).

The point is to bring awareness to male rape, disarm it to the point that men feel they can come forward, get the court system up to date so they can deal with these crimes, and get these men help. People are suffering. Whether it's one person or a thousand, we need to recognize the problem and help.

[kılıç_mehmet]

Never heard of such a thing, to be honest.

[Epimethean]

Because men are more violent and do commit more rapes, the majority of which are against women. If I recall correctly, as many as one woman in five will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime-and that is without the unreported cases. I'm against any violent crime, but women get the harsher end of this particular crime.

Actually, very recent statistics demonstrate that the majority of all rapes in the United States are male-on-male prison rapes.

That aside, it doesn't matter who gets raped more often or who is most likely to rape. The fact of the matter is, rape against men does occur, and nobody recognizes that it happens. Arguing that rape against women is a bigger issue and therefore male rape isn't as important is just fundamentally irrational.

You have your take on it. I have mine. Prison rape is a whole different situation and, frankly, that doesn't look likely to change any time soon given exigent demographics. I think your cause is worthwhile. I do not know a single man who has been raped (well, outside of prison, but I used to work in a jail, so that was not a surprise) whereas I personally know five women who have been raped. My focus goes where the problem is biggest-and where it has affected me. Have you been raped, Hovik? That is an honest question, because I would like to know what motivates you on this topic.

[Hovik]

Actually, very recent statistics demonstrate that the majority of all rapes in the United States are male-on-male prison rapes.

That aside, it doesn't matter who gets raped more often or who is most likely to rape. The fact of the matter is, rape against men does occur, and nobody recognizes that it happens. Arguing that rape against women is a bigger issue and therefore male rape isn't as important is just fundamentally irrational.

You have your take on it. I have mine. Prison rape is a whole different situation and, frankly, that doesn't look likely to change any time soon given exigent demographics. I think your cause is worthwhile. I do not know a single man who has been raped (well, outside of prison, but I used to work in a jail, so that was not a surprise) whereas I personally know five women who have been raped. My focus goes where the problem is biggest-and where it has affected me. Have you been raped, Hovik? That is an honest question, because I would like to know what motivates you on this topic.

Whether or not I've been raped is irrelevant. My focus on this topic has more to do with my focus on men's rights overall. I began this thread because I felt that it was a little-discussed matter that needed to be brought forth, and it is exactly because nobody talks about it that it's allowed to happen (and it isn't taken seriously). Regardless of whether or not we consider male rape to be equivalent in occurrence to female rape, rape against men does occur, and it's just as bad as rape against women. Comparing the two based on frequency of occurrence is pointless.

[Epimethean]

So comparing the amount of pollution one car puts out to the amount a factory puts out is pointless? I have agreed that your topic has merit. If this were a thread merely titled "Rape," perhaps such an issue as frequency of occurrence would be pointless, because both sexes would be represented. Since women (outside of prison-got it) are more frequently raped, if I had resources to stop one sex being raped, it would go that way. There seems to be an emotional connection with the issue here, and that makes sense to me. In my day to day life, I have met many women who have been raped. If you or some other man you know and care for has been raped, perhaps that prompted this thread. That is very fine, and I can understand that. Otherwise, unless you were doing an academic paper and looking for a topic more esoteric than the usual (female rape, domestic violence, abortion, legalization of drugs), I simply wondered what brought the topic to the fore of your attention.

[Hovik]

So comparing the amount of pollution one car puts out to the amount a factory puts out is pointless? I have agreed that your topic has merit. If this were a thread merely titled "Rape," perhaps such an issue as frequency of occurrence would be pointless, because both sexes would be represented. Since women (outside of prison-got it) are more frequently raped, if I had resources to stop one sex being raped, it would go that way. There seems to be an emotional connection with the issue here, and that makes sense to me. In my day to day life, I have met many women who have been raped. If you or some other man you know and care for has been raped, perhaps that prompted this thread. That is very fine, and I can understand that. Otherwise, unless you were doing an academic paper and looking for a topic more esoteric than the usual (female rape, domestic violence, abortion, legalization of drugs), I simply wondered what brought the topic to the fore of your attention.

Look, you're missing the entire point. I think you're mistaking my intent as being geared towards stopping rape against men while women aren't important, but that's not the case. I'm discussing the fact that rape against men isn't recognized by society at large while rape against females is, and that both issues are important. People do not believe that men are raped or even can be raped, and that's a serious detriment to people's lives.

[Epimethean]

I'm simply wondering what prompted the thread. Face it: It's an unconventional topic, stereotypes noted. You seem very passionate about it and I have little connection to it. Can you tell me how you came to know about this topic?

[Annik]

He's a MRA, as am I and (it seems!) Tibbers.

[Tempus]

Face it: It's an unconventional topic, stereotypes noted.

From what I understand that's the whole reason it was brought up. I haven't been raped, yet if Hovik, Annik and Tiberius hadn't posted I would've made much the same posts myself. The OP draws attention to the invisibility of the issue, it doesn't seek to exaggerate the frequency of its occurrence. A crime such as assassination, or an accident like a shark attack may only represent a small amount of the deaths per year, but they're still recognised nonetheless. Nobody is saying breast cancer doesn't exist by acknowledging the handful of shark attacks that occur per year. The point, as I see it, is to not allow male rape to simply by laughed off or ignored. I certainly don't want to diminish female rape; in fact, I want the attitude society has toward it (one of antipathy) to be maintained. I just want male rape to be recognised the same way.