The rape of men

[bricolage]

Sexual violence is one of the most horrific weapons of war, an instrument of terror used against women. Yet huge numbers of men are also victims. In this harrowing report, Will Storr travels to Uganda to meet traumatised survivors, and reveals how male rape is endemic in many of the world's conflicts.

It's not just in East Africa that these stories remain unheard. One of the few academics to have looked into the issue in any detail is Lara Stemple, of the University of California's Health and Human Rights Law Project. Her study Male Rape (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/rape) and Human Rights notes incidents of male sexual violence as a weapon of wartime or political aggression in countries such as Chile, Greece, Croatia, Iran, Kuwait, the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. Twenty-one per cent of Sri Lankan males who were seen at a London torture (http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/torture) treatment centre reported sexual abuse while in detention. In El Salvador, 76% of male political prisoners surveyed in the 1980s described at least one incidence of sexual torture. A study of 6,000 concentration-camp inmates in Sarajevo found that 80% of men reported having been raped.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men

[Queercommie Girl]

I don't know how it's like in the West, but one of the problems with contemporary Chinese law is that legally in China men can't be raped.

Contemporary Chinese law states that only women can be raped (trans-women included) and only men can be rapists.

This law has only emerged in the post-Maoist/Dengist period though. During the Maoist period, despite the lack of LGBT rights, "homosexual rape" against men was also illegal. This law was changed after Mao's death.

Recently a 15 years old boy was raped by a homosexual man in China. The rapist was only imprisoned for 15 days, and then released without any charges. Had this boy been female, the rapist would have been jailed for years. This is clearly a sign of gender inequality in the Chinese legal system.

[The_Outernationalist]

What really disturbs me the most is the trendy thought that only men can rape men. women can be rapists and predators as much as men can. It's sexist to think otherwise.

[bricolage]

What really disturbs me the most is the trend that only men can rape men. women can be rapists and predators as much as men can. It's sexist to think otherwise.
statistically cases in which a woman is the rapist pale in comparison one hundred times over to cases in which a man is the rapist.

[bricolage]

I don't know how it's like in the West, but one of the problems with contemporary Chinese law is that legally in China men can't be raped.
One of the points the article makes is that NGOs and aid charities do not conceive of men as rape victims and as such are unwilling to help them. Added to this patriarchal cultures in which perceived forms of male weakness can result in severe ostracism.

[The_Outernationalist]

statistically cases in which a woman is the rapist pale in comparison one hundred times over to cases in which a man is the rapist.

*of reported rape cases--I'd imagine that a man would be even more likely not to report due to the culture of masculinity.

Hell, I know of places that won't even consider it rape or help male rape victims if the predator was a female. take into account how little this phenomenon is studied, how taboo it is especially compared to female rape, and you'll see why no victims will ever come forth publicly (and we already know how bad it is enough for a female victim of rape to come forward)

[Queercommie Girl]

One of the points the article makes is that NGOs and aid charities do not conceive of men as rape victims and as such are unwilling to help them. Added to this patriarchal cultures in which perceived forms of male weakness can result in severe ostracism.


Legally do Western countries acknowledge men as rape victims though?

In China it's not just a cultural thing, but literally a legal one. By law, men can never be rape victims, even when objectively they are.

Regardless of how ineffective a legal system may be in practice, having the law is still always better than having none. Just like it's better in the West regarding LGBT rights because in the European Union for instance LGBT rights are virtually fully recognised and protected by law, whereas in China they are not. The fact that in Europe this law is often not realised is a different matter.

[bricolage]

I agree with you that probably lots of men who are raped don't report it (this doesn't actually suggest that they were raped by women though) but most women that are raped don't report it either.
I'm sorry but there is no way you can prove rape in which women are the perpetrators is anywhere near the issue that rape in which men are the perpetrators is.

[Martin Blank]

I don't know how it's like in the West, but one of the problems with contemporary Chinese law is that legally in China men can't be raped.

In the U.S., most states recognize that men can be rape victims. And much like it is for women rape victims (and domestic violence survivors), dealing with the police can be a living hell.

[bricolage]

Legally do Western countries acknowledge men as rape victims though?
I'd imagine most probably do.
The article in question was largely referring to conflicts within Africa where I assume the law is more similar to that of China.

[The_Outernationalist]

I'm sorry but there is no way you can prove rape in which women are the perpetrators is anywhere near the issue that rape in which men are the perpetrators is.

anywhere near "the issue"? as if you are saying "one rape isn't as bad as this one"...see, that's the kind've trivializing crap I'm talking about that makes male survivors not want to speak about it, whereas women are at least given a supporting forum or rape crisis center that can help them see themselves through. what do men have? almost nothing, and what they do have gears towards male-on-male rape usually only.

[Queercommie Girl]

In the U.S., most states recognize that men can be rape victims. And much like it is for women rape victims (and domestic violence survivors), dealing with the police can be a living hell.

Despite this, I still insist that having the law is still better than having none.

In China, a man could literally boast in Tiananmen Square in public to a million people that he raped 1000 men, and no-one can do anything, because by law men can never be raped.

[bricolage]

anywhere near "the issue"? as if you are saying "one rape isn't as bad as this one"...see, that's the kind've trivializing crap I'm talking about that makes male survivors not want to speak about it.
I didn't say that at all, sorry if you misconstrued it as that.
I meant in terms of how common it is and how much of a structural phenomenon it is.

[Queercommie Girl]

I'd imagine most probably do.
The article in question was largely referring to conflicts within Africa where I assume the law is more similar to that of China.

Note though that in Maoist China men-against-men rape was also illegal (women were still never regarded as rapists though), it's only in Dengist/post-Maoist China that this law has reverted back to a more reactionary form. Just another great fruit of "market socialism with Chinese characteristics".

[The_Outernationalist]

because by law men can never be raped.

By culture, by society, by tradition in many countries, men can't be raped.

[Queercommie Girl]

By culture, in many countries, men can't be raped.

It's qualitatively worse when it's both by culture and by law.

[bricolage]

what do men have? almost nothing, and what they do have gears towards male-on-male rape usually only.
Take the original article as an example, it specifically notes that there are little if any organisations of institutions dealing with male rape victims, however all the men that were raped were raped by men. Saying that male rape victims are neglected is one thing, and most often the case, yet saying that they are just as likely to be raped by a woman than by a man is just not true.

[Queercommie Girl]

Just a side note (tangent): China at the moment does legally recognise trans-women as fully female. So if you are a male victim of rape in China and you want the rapist to be punished, the only legal way to do it is to claim that you are a trans-woman and is about to start the sex change transition...