“I thought rape was not something that happened to men” | International | News

He came out as a homosexual and moved from his small town to Manchester, England to study.

“I think this is the second time I’ve been to a gay bar or pub. My friend and I ran into some people who invited us to a party at a house,” he says.

“He was very naive and wanted to make friends and be open with people. I agreed, but at the last moment my friend changed his mind.

Alex was taken to a property You think he took drugs.

“The owner of the house poured me a drink and I started to sleep. He took me to a bedroom and after a while he came there and raped me. I felt like I was slapped on the bed.”

The next day, “life instinct kicked.”

Alex agreed to take the man back to college Tried to bury what happened.

“Actually, I thought rape was not something that happens to men, so maybe it’s not something that happened to me.”

“I planned to think about what was happening to the women, and because I didn’t think they would trust me, it was very difficult to sue or report to the police,” she says.

Unspecified

Alex is now CEO of Survivors UK, a charity that provides support to men, children and non-binary people who have been raped, sexually abused or abused.

Although women are more likely to be victims of sexual violence, the UK and Wales Criminal Survey estimates it One in 100 men Attempted any form of sexual harassment or assault in the first year of March 2020.

Last year, Reinhard Sinaga, “the greatest rapist in British legal history”, was convicted of dragging 48 people outside of Manchester clubs into his apartment not far from the bar where Alex approached them.

Sinaka assaults drugged men Filming attacks.

Survivors UK research suggests homosexuals and bisexual men are more likely to be sexually abused Than the general male population.

In their study of 505 homosexuals and bisexual men, 47% said they had experienced sexual violence, and a third said they felt they could not talk to anyone about what had happened.

It is important to recognize that most sexual assaults “They Occur in Our Sex Life”Alex points out.

“We do not want to feed the homosexual and homosexual men into a more promiscuous or predatory homosexual stereotype, but we want people to know about consensual but strange places: but gay bars, saunas, sex with drugs.”

“The challenging but important part of the research is that it (specific record) does not stigmatize specific sexual practices.”

All of the victims

Only one in seven people who took part in the survey last August reported a sexual assault incident to the police. Of those who did, approx Quarter area He did not believe or realize that his complaint was not taken seriously.

“It’s about consent. Have sex with drugs, for example, or any gender is not heterosexual or regular; having sex with more than one partner (for example) can be very disgraceful,” says Alex.

“So if someone experiences sexual violence in situations like this, they are less likely to talk to the police.”

The LGBT + Abuse charity also supports people who have been victims of sexual abuse or violence.

Homosexuals and bisexual men often Do not represent themselves or their experiences There is very little support service to help them deal with sexual violence, ”said Lenny Morris, Managing Director.

“We know from our investigation that many will not come to the police and will be left to tell what happened to them without professional support,” Morris says.

“We need to ensure a public interpretation of sexual harassment Includes all victimsMoreover, every survivor of sexual violence has access to the help they need.

Lee (not his real name) was 15 years old when he was admitted to the hospital after causing self-harm while struggling to cope with his sexuality.

There he was sexually abused by a male counselor for more than a year, and the experience he claimed came as a shock for many years.

“For a good decade, that experience has penetrated other stages of my process. Sexual assault or violence is normalized I don’t take good care of myself, ”he said.

“I had to get my head out, but the treatment turned out to be confusing and I was abusing drugs and sex to deal with the deepest sense of comfort and awkwardness and face what I was feeling.

When he finally asked for support, he had no idea what was going on What happened to him was a sexual assault.

“I may have misunderstood that what he did to me was not violence: he did not hit or kick me, he did not rape me and I decided I could continue with that.” (I)