Male Sexual Abuse Survivors Struggle In Relations With Health Care Providers
June 27, 2006
New research reveals that male survivors of childhood sexual abuse face unique
challenges that many health care practitioners do not recognize and understand
as well as they should.
Canadian researchers have found that although both male and female childhood
sexual survivors have similar anxieties and fears about their encounters with
health care professionals, there are gender based differences concerning
perceptions of victimhood, guilt, shame, homophobia and vulnerability.
"We found that it's doubly-difficult for males to come forward after
they've been sexually abused, because many men have difficulty identifying and
expressing their feelings. There is also a common perception that males should
be strong and shouldn't ever admit vulnerability or ask for help," said
Gerri Lasiuk, a PhD student in the U of A Faculty of Nursing.
"Given the pervasive stereotype of men as strong, in control, and always
able to defend themselves, even health professionals have a hard time
recognizing men as victims, especially if their abuser was a woman," said
Lasiuk, who co-authored a paper on this topic in the June 2006 edition of the
journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing.
"Many male survivors felt that health care providers are more skeptical
toward male claims of abuse than they are of similar female claims. When the
abuser was a woman, there was an attitude of, 'So what? Isn't that every boy's
fantasy?" Lasiuk said.
Lasiuk added that abuse by a male on a boy often causes confusion around sexual
identity as the boy grows up, and many male survivors do not disclose their
abuse for fear that they will be considered homosexual.
Another issue for men is the myth that all survivors are predisposed to become
abusers themselves.
"The research is clear that only a small percentage of survivors go on to
be abusers," Lasiuk said. "This erroneous belief causes tremendous
hardship for male survivors, who often have nowhere to turn to for care and
support."
Lasiuk and her colleagues compiled their research data from 46 interviews with
male childhood sexual abuse survivors. The researchers found that in some cases
health care providers--which include nurses, physical therapists, physicians,
chiropractors, dentists and massage therapists--harmed more than healed the male
survivors due to their lack of knowledge and insensitivity to the male
survivors' lot.
However, the situation is not totally bleak for male survivors. Lasiuk said that
high profile disclosures--like former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy's--are changing
societal attitudes and making it easier for male survivors to come forward.
"Given that 5 to 10 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women are survivors
of childhood sexual abuse, all health professionals encounter survivors every
day in their practice no matter what their specialty. The key to sensitive
practice with male survivors is to treat them with respect and to create a sense
of safety by using language that communicates an understanding of their
experience--one survivor referred to this as 'malecentric communication',"
Lasiuk said.
"The onus is on health professionals to increase their knowledge about the
health effects of childhood sexual abuse and to create safe health care
environments. To do otherwise breaches the ethical obligation to 'do no
harm'."
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Gerri Lasiuk can be reached glasiuk@ualberta.ca.
Lasiuk can also put reporters in contact with a male sexual abuse survivor, who
believes talking about his experiences will help him and others who have been
through similar experiences.
Contact: Ryan Smith
University of Alberta