Rape Myths, Victim Blaming & Under-Reporting.
By Tara Scully,
London Metropolitan University.
Male rape is a taboo topic that is only recently gaining more popularity as a research subject. In the UK it took a heinous crime like the one of Sinaga to prompt wider critical thinking about current misconceptions of what is meant by male rape. The purpose of this study was to examine and conduct a library-based research project highlighting some of the academic studies about male rape. This was achieved by using a variety of mixed media, such as journals, articles, interviews, and websites. The project examined the under reporting of male rape by using statistics from the Crime Survey of England and Wales. This project also explored how blaming the victim is ingrained in rape culture. This research also highlights the issues that male rape myths create for victims and examines some elements of trauma that male rape victims face. The findings of this essay revealed that there is a large gap between the number of sexual assaults in the Crime Survey for England and Wales and the number of reports to the police. This project also brings to light that there are still male rape myths that plague society to this day. Rape myths, trauma and victim blaming highly correlate with male victims feeling like they cannot report the crime. This research has shown that further research into the subject of male rape would be beneficial.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10042137