Abstract
In recent years, the sexual assault of males has received growing attention both in the research literature and among the public. Much of the research has focused on documenting prevalence rates or the psychological consequences of male sexual assault. However, this article aims to understand how men, as gendered, embodied and affective subjects, make sense of their experiences of sexual assault. In-depth interviews with ten adult males who have experienced sexual assault have been analyzed using a phenomenological approach in order to learn more about their lived and gendered experience. Four themes emerged from the analysis: (a) conflicting feelings and difficult conceptualizations, (b) re-experiencing vulnerability, (c) emotional responses and resistance, and (d) disclosure and creativity. The findings suggest that the ways in which men navigate norms of masculinity shape the way they understand, process and articulate their lived experience of sexual assault. As a way of coping with the experience and of healing from a past that is still present, the study participants perform an alternative masculine identity.
Highlights
Sexual violence is a widespread phenomenon and a major public health issue both internationally (WHO 2013) and in Sweden (NCK 2014)
Previous research on male sexual assault has often focused on specific forms of sexual violence, such as child sexual abuse (Alaggia and Millington 2008; Dube et al 2005; Fergusson et al 1996) or sexual assault in institutional settings (Scarce 1997; Wooden and Parker 1982) and in areas of armed conflict (Clark 2017; Sivakumaran 2007)
Four themes emerged from the analysis with regard to how the participants understand, process and articulate their experiences of sexual assault as gendered, embodied and affective subjects: (a) conflicting feelings and difficult conceptualizations, (b) re-experiencing vulnerability, (c) emotional responses and resistance, and (d) disclosure and creativity
Summary
Sexual violence is a widespread phenomenon and a major public health issue both internationally (WHO 2013) and in Sweden (NCK 2014). According to a national survey carried out by the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (NCK) in Sweden, 4% of adult males have experienced completed or attempted forced sexual intercourse during childhood and 1% during adulthood This means that, in Sweden, approximately 171,000 men are living with the experience of severe forms of sexual assault (NCK 2014). Sexual assault is characterized by unilateral and coercive acts of violence committed without a person’s consent, against someone unable to provide consent or against children It includes at least two people, a perpetrator and a victim, concepts which in the current article are used only as situatedaction terms and do not refer to identity (Renoux and Wade 2008). The experience of sexual assault appears to be difficult for men, as it undermines their own sense of power and control and challenges their masculine identity (Kia-Keating et al 2005)
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