Rape Culture: Ending Victim Blaming
View the Rape Culture: Ending Victim Blaming Power Topic
What’s Ahead
- What is rape culture and how does it impact everyone, especially survivors?
- What is victim blaming and how does it contribute to rape culture?
- Why do people victim blame?
- Why do we need to change rape culture and end victim blaming?
- What can we do to make positive change?
What Is Rape Culture?
In this presentation, “males” refers to children, adolescents, and adults — including cisgender heterosexual males, gay males, trans males, and gender-nonconforming people who identify as male.
This is a long presentation and may require two sessions to complete. You may wish to move quickly through the material and return for a second session.
We highly recommend watching Christopher Routenberg-Evans’s talk (6 minutes).
Who Are the Victims?
What do we know about sexual harassment and abuse of males?
- How many males are sexually assaulted before age 16?
- At least 1 in 6 males experience physical sexual assault by age 16.
- When non-contact abuse is included (such as exposure or pornography), the rate increases to 1 in 5.
- Average age of first abuse:
- The average age is 10 years old.
- Age range of first abuse:
- From infancy through late adolescence.
- Most research data focuses on heterosexual males.
- Transgender and nonbinary adolescents are twice as likely to experience sexual violence as their cisgender peers (see GLSEN’s 2021 National School Climate Survey ).
- Given these statistics, it is likely that at least one male friend you know has been sexually abused by age 16.
Who Are the Abusers?
- What percentage of abusers are male?
- An estimated 50–75% of abusers are other males who identify as heterosexual.
- Most know the victim but are not related.
- Research shows gender-nonconforming people are less likely to commit sexual assault (see Trans Teens Less Likely to Commit Acts of Sexual Violence ).
- Other abusers may include family members, peers, authority figures, or strangers.
- Female abuse of males:
- Rates are difficult to determine due to underreporting and cultural framing as “sexual initiation.”
- See More female teachers caught having sex with students .
Prevalence of Educator Abuse
- At least 10% of students experience sexual harassment or assault by school employees before graduation.
- Learn more in A Case Study of K–12 School Employee Sexual Misconduct .
- Optional viewing: Pledge of Silence: Sex Abuse and Cover-Up in America’s Schools (22 minutes).
How Male and Female Sexual Assault Differ
According to the National Center for PTSD :
- Male victims are often targeted by strangers or authority figures.
- Male perpetrators frequently assault multiple victims.
- Most perpetrators of male sexual assault are heterosexual men.
- Assaults often occur in isolated locations where help is not readily available.
What Is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to:
- Sexual gestures
- Sexual sounds
- Verbal statements of a sexual nature
- Sexual bullying
- Exposing genitals or breasts
- Exposing someone to pornography
- Sending sexual images
- Sextortion
- Disparaging remarks about sexuality or orientation
- And more
See also: Sexual Harassment Defined and Its Impact and What Is Sextortion?
