Male Rape, Masculinities, and Sexualities

Understanding, Policing, and Overcoming Male Sexual Victimisation

Aliraza Javaid

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9783319526386
• eBook ISBN:
  9783319526393
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book critically explores the intersections between male rape, masculinities, and sexualities. It examines the ways in which male rape is policed, responded to, and addressed by state and voluntary agencies in Britain. The book uncovers how notions of gender, sexualities and masculinities shape these agencies' understanding of male rape and their views of men as victims of rape. Javaid pays particular attention to the police and deconstructs police subculture to consider whether it influences and shapes the ways in which police officers provide services for male rape victims. Grounded in qualitative interviews and data derived from the state and voluntary sector, this book will be invaluable reading for sociologists, criminologists, and social scientists who are keen to learn more about gender, policing, sexual violence and male sexual victimisation.

© The Author(s) 2018

Aliraza JavaidMale Rape, Masculinities, and SexualitiesPalgrave Hate Studieshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52639-3_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Aliraza Javaid¹

(1)

University of East London, University Square, London, UK

Aliraza Javaid

Email: [email protected]

Keywords

Male rapePolice occupational cultureMale rape mythsFemale rape mythsSecondary victimisation

End Abstract

As a master’s student some years ago, I took a module called ‘sexual violence’, taught by a non-academic man who had not researched sexual violence prior to his new position as a seminar tutor. In the module, there were mostly female students and a few male students, including myself. The material we covered throughout the module stemmed solely from the edited collection, entitled Handbook of Sexual Violence (2011), and the editors of this collection are Jennifer Brown and Sandra Walklate; two respected scholars in this field. Covering material solely from this handbook for each seminar meant that we did not cover anything relating to male rape . This, I found, problematic yet nobody was questioning this. It was like we must not speak of the unspoken, that is, male rape . We only really covered and were only taught about female rape and female rape victims , with the exception being paedophilia and child abuse. Adult male rape was simply absent or non-existent on this module. This, in turn, perpetuated to us male rape myths , including ‘men cannot be raped’, ‘male rape is not “real” rape’, and ‘only women can be raped’. This silence of male rape created rage in me because it was simply reproducing gender inequality in the classroom: I spoke out not only to contest gender inequality , but also because it was the right thing to do. When speaking out, I was plainly met with dubious reactions, with my seminar tutor inattentively saying, ‘You can write about it if you want’—and so I did.

Male rape is an issue. It is a social and legal issue. Male rape is a crime of acute violence. It is not sexual. Rather, a form of violence—sexual violence. It deserves recognition not only because thousands of men are victims to this crime, but also it creates devastating and life-changing implications. It is more common than we are led to believe. For example, in 2013, the Crime Survey for England and Wales roughly estimated that 75,000 men are victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault a year, while 9000 men are victims of rape or attempted rape each year (Ministry of Justice 2014a). Relatedly, each year, 72,000 men are estimated to becoming victims of sexual crime, whether reported or not (Ministry of Justice 2014b). From the statistical figures here, we know that male rape and male sexual assault happens in England and Wales. This is true more recently. For instance, the Crime Survey for England and Wales in 2017 estimates that, while 3.1% of women (510,000) suffered sexual assault in the last year, 0.8% of men (138,000) aged 16–59 experienced it in the last year. This estimation is made regarding the year ending March 2017. The figures are striking and deeply concerning, since there is no major change from the previous year’s survey. There is a drastic increase of male rape and male sexual assault incidents. However, what lies beneath the figures are more incidents of rape and sexual assault against men, given that many victims continue to not come forward to report. There is a ‘dark’ figure of crime. These statistics just represent the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Beneath this iceberg, there are more sexual offences happening.

The media have attempted to grapple with these important issues of male rape and male sexual assault. Take for example the recent airing of male rape storyline in Coronation Street. While I am not a fan of soaps, partly because they tend to misconstrue or miss-convey social and legal issues, Coronation Street does a good job at addressing the issue of male rape . The storyline includes the character, David Platt being drugged and sexually assaulted by his new friend mechanic, Josh Tucker. While many male rape incidents include drugs , there are many other ways in which to rape men, which the storyline seems to overlook. I can relate to the storyline. This is because I was raped on three different occasions; one incident included my being drugged and raped orally (the other two incidents comprised of one including raped orally; the other including being raped anally). I recall the drug being powerful. Two offenders drugged me at their home many years ago; I tried so hard to open my eyes, they failed me, though they were infrequently flickering. I could see the two offenders carrying me to one of the offender’s bed, who raped me. My body was paralysed, but during midway of the rape, I could see him performing oral sex. I remember my other two incidents of rape rather clearly, too. One was on a night out on the gay scene. I was drunk. He took advantage of that. In a gay bar, he pinned me down on some seats in the corner, where it was dark and nobody could see. He held me down while he performed oral sex. My body failed me, yet again, as I could not escape or break free from the shackles of power . My entrapment was an indication of his control over my body, and over my penis. The final incident was probably the most violent. He was physically well built and muscular, much stronger than I was. I was a tiny little thing, short, a twink, and slim. He was strong, broad, and violent. At his home, he pinned me down and raped me anally. This story I tell in the preface because it was the most violent, most threatening, and most physical. It was salient to me because I feared for my life the most—I thought I was going to die. He could kill me and nobody would have known where I was. That was the time, the only time, when I feared for my life and safety. While he anally raped me, and while he pinned me down, my arms were held down so strongly and violently that any movement would cause pain and bruising. In fact, it did.

Sexual violence is important to me because, not only have I been raped, but also I have been sexually assaulted many times, so much so that this book could have easily been filled up with many intimate stories of each short incident. There are other reasons why this issue is close to my heart. A long time ago, my younger sister was sexually assaulted by her cousin, who serially assaulted her on numerous occasions. This was difficult for me to comprehend given the closeness of us all as cousins. He often pinned her down, dry humping her while she was young, in return for allowing her to play on his PlayStation. This taking advantage of her vulnerability angered me because she still speaks of this event to date. Although the physical pains fade away, the memories are in us forever, even when we die. It is the memories that are painful, they hurt the most, and they remind us of those painful events of injustice and inequality . They haunt us like living ghosts.

In terms of academic scholarship and research and writing more generally in respect of male sexual violence, there have been some studies conducted since the 1970s. For example, Lockwood has done some work around male rape and sexual assault in prisons, notably in America (see Lockwood 1980, 1983). The late Sue Lees , who died too young, has also written about male rape and was really one of the first important feminists to grapple with the issue of male rape , alongside female rape (see her works, 1997; see also Gregory and Lees 1999). There have also been some interesting writings on male rape occurring in military establishments (Mulkey 2004; Belkin 2008; Turchik and Edwards 2012; Zaleski 2015). In addition, there have been writings around the interconnection between feminism and male rape (Cohen 2014), and how the media convey male rape (Abdullah-Khan 2008; Jamel 2010). Davies and colleagues have done some imp...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Gendering Rape: (Dis)Connecting Men and Rape
• 3. Uncovering Male Sexual Victimisation
• 4. Researching Male Sexual Victimisation: ‘The Personal Is Political’
• 5. Hegemonic Masculinity, Heteronormativity, and Male Rape
• 6. The Criminal Justice System and Male Rape: Processing Male Rape Cases
• 7. Responding to Male Sexual Victimisation: (Un)Supporting Male Rape Victims
• 8. Conclusion
• Back Matter