This is part 1 of my multi-part post on what I call the War on Boys. Like many other people, I am shown tons of statistics by third-wave feminists (often edited to fit their talking points) about how difficult life can be for American women and girls in comparison to men and boys or how there is some sort of underlying systematic oppression that women in America are being victimized by, but if we compare many areas of women's statistics side by side with men's, we can see where real oppression and discrimination lies. Starting with sexual violence:
I think most of us have hear the overused, misquoted statistic of "1 in 4 women will be raped during their time in college," I've even heard "1 in 4 women will be raped during their freshman year," when the real statistic is that by 18 years old (about college freshman age) 1 in 4 women will have been sexually assaulted (not necessarily raped) in there lifetime (not within that year) and the lesser heard part of the statistic, 1 in 6 boys will be the victim of sexual assault in their lifetime as well.
Another amazingly under-quoted statistic is the fact that female college-aged students (18-24) are 20% less likely than non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault. However, male college-aged students (18-24) are 78% more likely than non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault.
In an off campus 2012 study, the CDC found that 1.715 million (up from 1.267 million in 2010) men reported being "made to penetrate" another person in the preceding 12 months, similar to the 1.473 million (2010: 1.270 million) women who reported being raped in the same time period. The definitions of rape and "made to penetrate" in the CDC study were worded with extremely similar language. Yes, you read that correctly. More men were raped in 2012 than woman.
Several studies argue that male-male prisoner rape, as well as female-female prisoner rape, are common types of rape which go unreported even more frequently than rape in the general population. The rape of men by men has been documented as a weapon of terror in warfare. In the case of the Syrian Civil War (2011–present), the male detainees experienced sexual abuse such as being forced to sit on a broken glass bottle, getting their genitals tied to a heavy bag of water, or being forced to watch the rape of another detainee by the officials.
Female-on-male rape is under-researched compared to other forms of sexual violence. Statistics on the prevalence of female-on-male sexual violence vary. One study (Hannon et al.) found 23.4% of women and 10.5% of men reported they were raped while 6.6% of women and 10.5% of men reported they were victims of attempted rape. A 2010–2012 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 86.5% of male rape victims reported only male perpetrators, (down from 93.3% in the previous study published in 2010).
One in 17 men (5.9%) reported being made to penetrate at some point in their lives (up from 4.8% in 2010). The surveys also found that male victims often reported only female perpetrators in instances of being made to penetrate (2012: 78.5%, 2010: 79.2%), sexual coercion (2012: 81.6%, 2010: 83.6%), and unwanted sexual contact (2012: 53.0%, 2010: 53.1%). A 2008 study of 98 men interviewed on the United States National Crime Victimization Survey found that nearly half of the men (46%) who reported some form of sexual victimization were victimized by women.
The U.S Dept. of Justice reports that "Among the 39,121 male prison inmates who had been victims of staff sexual misconduct, 69% reported sexual activity with female staff; an additional 16% reported sexual activity with both female and male staff." and "Nearly two-thirds of the male jail inmates who had been victimized said the staff perpetrator was female (64%)."
Male victims of sexual abuse by females often face social, political, and legal double standards. The case of Cierra Ross' sexual assault of a man in Chicago gained national headlines and Ross was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and armed robbery with a bail set at $75,000. A similar case includes James Landrith, who was made to penetrate a female acquaintance in a hotel room while incapacitated from drinking, while his rapist cited the fact that she was pregnant to advise him not to struggle, as this might hurt the baby.
Several widely publicized cases of female-on-male statutory rape in the United States involved school teachers having illegal sex with their underage students such as the case of Mary Kay Fualaau (formerly Mary Kay Letourneau; born January 30, 1962), an American former schoolteacher who pleaded guilty to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child, her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's child. Her plea agreement called for six months in jail, with three months suspended, and no contact with Fualaau for life. The case gained national attention. One month after her three months in jail, Letourneau was caught by police in a car with Fualaau. Judge Linda Lau found that she was in violation of the conditions of the plea agreement, vacated her probation, and re-sentenced her to the maximum of seven years in prison. She soon gave birth to a second daughter, while in prison. She was incarcerated from 1998 to 2004. In 2004, when Letourneau was released, Fualaau was over 18 years old and he asked the court to revoke the no-contact order. The court complied. Letourneau and Fualaau married in May 2005, and she took his last name. In May 2017, Fualaau filed for legal separation.
Convicted rapist Mary Kay Letourneau, husband/victim Vili Fualaau and their two daughters
Or Debra Lafave, who had sexual intercourse, including oral sex, with a student 14 year old on four different occasions. In May 2004, the boy and Lafave went to see his cousin in Ocala, Florida. His aunt was alarmed at seeing him in the company of a provocatively-dressed woman, and alerted his mother. Under intense questioning from the boy's mother, he admitted that the woman was Lafave. Officers in Temple Terrace recorded conversations between Lafave and the boy, then arrested her at their next meeting. Two separate sets of charges were filed, because the alleged incidents two diffent counties. A trial date was set after the prosecution and defense could not agree on a plea bargain that involved prison time. Lafave faced a sentence of 5-to-15 years for each of the two counts for which she was accused. However, she was later sentenced to only three years of community control (house arrest) and seven years probation.
In July 2008, within the terms of her plea deal, LaFave petitioned to convert the remainder of her house arrest to probation, having satisfied other terms such as sex offender therapy and community service. Her petition was granted and her house arrest ended four months early. On October 29, 2009, Lafave was cleared to have unsupervised contact with some children. On September 22, 2011, LaFave moved to end her probation four years early, on account of having completed all other obligations and recently becoming a mother. Her petition was granted and her probation ended that day. The victim's family stated that they would appeal the decision. The early termination of probation was reversed by the 2nd District Court of Appeals on August 15, 2012. Lafave asked the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate her release from probation. On January 24, 2013, Lafave was ordered to continue her probation while the Florida Supreme Court waited to hear the case. In October 2014, the Florida Supreme court ruled in favor of Lafave.
Male victims, including underage minors, have been forced to pay child support to their rapist when the rapist conceives a baby as a result of the rape such as the case of Hermesmann v. Seyer (State ex rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer 847 P.2d 1273 (Kan. 1993)) was a precedent-setting Kansas, United States case in which Colleen Hermesmann successfully argued that a woman is entitled to sue the father of her child (who was 12) for child support even if conception occurred as a result of a criminal act committed by the woman.
Sexual abuse results in severe emotional and often physical trauma in all genders. Among sexual assault victims over 18, 31.5% of females and 16.1% of males said that they incurred non-genital injuries from the assault. However, male victims received more ancillary injuries and were more likely to be threatened with a weapon by the perpetrator. The symptoms and injuries most frequently noted are tension headaches, ulcers, nausea, colitis, abrasions to the throat, black eyes and broken bones. The study by Stermac and colleagues (2004) noted that 45% of male survivors who went to a hospital sexual assault center had some type of physical injury (25% soft tissue injury, 20% lacerations).
Randy Payne, beaten and raped to death in prison after breaking into a storage facility and stealing liquor
The data from hospital emergency rooms show that male rape victims are more likely to have non-genital injuries than females, and that they are more likely to neglect seeking medical attention if the injuries are not significant. Hodge and Canter (1998) report that homosexual male victims are more likely to sustain serious injuries than heterosexual male victims. Sometimes victims become infected by a sexually transmitted disease as the result of rape, but it is infrequent and includes only a small portion of male victims.
Compared to men who have not been sexually assaulted, men who were sexually assaulted before age 18 have a greater risk of having mental health problems, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression; alcoholism and drug abuse; suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts; problems in intimate relationships; and underachievement at school and at work. Because of gender expectations, being a male child victim of sexual abuse can lead to:
Pressure to prove his manhood physically and sexually (becoming stronger and engaging in dangerous or violent behavior; having multiple female sexual partners).
Confusion over gender and sexual identity.
Sense of being an inadequate man.
Sense of lost power, control, and confidence to his manhood.
Problems with closeness and intimacy.
Sexual/Intimicy problems.
Fear of becoming homosexual or 'gay'
Homophobia
The suicide rate for sexually abused males is 14 to 15 times higher than for other males. Two researchers, McDonalds and Tijerino, found in their study that some participants state that there were occasions on which they felt so bad that they engaged in self-harming behaviors, including suicide attempts, and/or had suicidal thoughts. There is also a study that shows that rape victims are 4.1 times more likely to contemplate suicide and 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than non-crime victims.
Males have a much higher rate of completed suicide than females. One common explanation relies on the social constructions of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. In a review of the literature on gender and suicide, male suicide rates were explained in terms of traditional gender roles. Male gender roles tend to emphasize greater levels of strength, independence, and risk-taking behavior. Reinforcement of this gender role often prevents males from seeking help for suicidal feelings and depression.
Sexual assault victims need extensive emotional and psychological healing after the raping, but male survivors are not likely to speak out their cases. Elizabeth Donovan, a psychotherapist, said; "Males have the added burden of facing a society that doesn't believe rape can happen to them ... at all."
