Participate in Sexual Assault Survey

By Nicolle Macinnis and Mike Sosteric

We believe in our world that men are the predators, and women are the victims. This remarkably sexist idea is “common knowledge” and accepted wisdom, but is this idea of men as the predators, and women as the victims accurate? Could it be a result of the social construction of gender that we have all been exposed to over years? The problem is that society has constructed men to be ‘masculine’ which is associated with traits such as being: strong, tough, assertive, and dominant. The construct of the ‘victim’ does not fit into being ‘masculine’. As a result, victimization is extremely gendered. Men do not report being victim for fear of being seen as week, and the rest of society often ignores or downplays male victimization as a result.

So what happens when men, and boys, are the victims of this horrific crime? According to research they are often told that they need to “suck it up” or “be a man”. In other words, they are expected to bury the issue and carry on, and they know it. They are taught this from a very young age and as a result, the psychological and emotional trauma builds, causing damage, and leading to sometimes violent explosions of toxic pathology. The result, men and boys become the monsters we percieve them to be, not because they are, but because this is what we, as a society, has created. This recent tragic event may be an extreme case but it demonstrates my point. Visit this link to view the whole story.

The study that I (under the supervision of Dr. Mike Sosteric) am conducting seeks to find out not only about women’s experience as victims of sexual assault but about men’s experience as victims of sexual assault as well. According to statistics Canada only 9% of sex assaults are reported to police in a given year. Why aren’t men coming forward to report this crime to police, or support agencies? Is there something we change in regards to the support offered? Is there something that law enforcement can do to change procedures to better accommodate victims of sexual assault? Are there changes that we need to make as a society before victims will feel safe enough to come forward? Or is there something else that we need to look at, and change in order to allow victims to come forward?

By Participating in this study you would be helping us to better understand the differences, and similarities, between men and women in regards to sexual victimization. We will be able to have a better understanding of why both genders do not feel comfortable with reporting, and what we could start doing to make this better. This could include such things as: what resources both men, and women need in order to cope with what has happened, and how different agencies could encourage people to report. This could include: social services, medical personal, and law enforcement. By participating you could be helping future victims of this terrible crime.