Rochdale Observer

Reports of male rape double in two years

GMP record more than any force outside London

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REPORTS of male rapes have soared in Greater Manchester following the jailing of paedophile football coach Barry Bennell.

There were 530 reports of male rape to police in 2017/18, with the figures almost doubling in just two years.

Shockingly more than a quarter of the reported victims are children.

Greater Manchester Police had more reports than any other force in the country outside of London.

Charities who work with victims of sexual crimes said the rise in reports could reflect a greater willingnes­s among victims to speak out.

They say the jailing of former football coach Barry Bennell for a string of child sex offences triggered a spike in reporting.

While a Coronation Street storyline, which saw character David Platt struggling with the aftermath of his own rape, has also helped to break down the stigma around male rape.

Just this week a brave survivor spoke out about his abuse at the hands of former football coach William Toner.

Serial sex predator Toner gained the trust of the teenager and his parents while posing as a Manchester City scout during the 1990s.

Toner, who has now been jailed, abused the youngster in his own bedroom during posttraini­ng ‘rub down’ sessions while his parents were downstairs.

His victim, now in his 30s, has urged other men to speak out and told them: “You are not alone. The feelings that you have, the thought processes you have are normal.”

Earlier this year survivor Sam Thompson who worked as a script advisor on the Coronation Street storyline bravely spoke out about his own rape at the hands of two men after a night out in Manchester.

The 23-year-old DJ was helped by Survivors Manchester - a charity which supports male victims of rape and sexual abuse.

He has since become a Survivors ambassador and his story is also used to train GMP officers, so they know how to deal with victims.

“The best advice is to try and remember you are not alone with this,” he said while speaking to the M.E.N back in March.

“For me the worst thing was thinking it didn’t happen to other men. It’s about talking. If you talk to friends, family, profession­als, police anyone it helps. And if you can’t say the words then write them down or put them in a text.

“The moment you stop trying to keep it in is when you stop feeling alone. It helps you accept this has happened. It’s not the end of your life.”

GMP received 530 reports of male rape in 2017/18, compared to 318 the previous year, according to figures obtained by our sister paper the M.E.N through a Freedom of Informatio­n request.

In 149 of those cases there was a child victim aged 10 or under. A further 125 victims were aged between 11 and 20.

However the data does not state when the offence was said to have happened, meaning some may be historic incidents that have only recently come to the police’s attention.

Neil Henderson - chief executive of sexual abuse charity Safeline, said more men now feel able to report their cases but warned that more needs to be done to support them.

“We see the progress of male rape survivors,” he said. “Some might ring up and then hang up, but once they’ve made that connection and know that somebody is there to talk, they will go through the process and begin to talk through emails, through texts, and then maybe through face-to-face counsellin­g.

“There are massive stigmas about male rape survivors - that they have to be strong and can’t cry, and that they’re gay if they’ve been raped.

“It takes men an average of 10 years longer to talk about male rape than women because of these myths. Talking it about is changing things.”

Neil said that media coverage of the Bennell case as well as the Coronation Street storyline triggered a huge spike in calls to the charity.

He added: “Before, women were only seen as the victims and men were seen as the perpetrato­rs so a lot of specialist centres wouldn’t offer support to male victims because they didn’t want men to scare the women.

“Luckily that’s changing now, but it’s still a service that is still grossly underfunde­d.”

Rape Crisis England and Wales say there are 46 rape crisis centres available for people to seek support - just 25 cater for men as well as women.

A charity spokespers­on said: “There are not enough specialist support services for victims and survivors of sexual violence of any gender. There are currently 6,000 individual­s on waiting lists across England and Wales for our member Rape Crisis Centres’ specialist services and many areas with no service provision.”

Anyone affected by male rape can call the National Male Helpline on 0808 800 5005, text Safeline on 07860 027573 or email support@safeline.org.uk.

Survivors Manchester is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10am to 4pm, Tuesday and Thursday at 8am to 8pm and Saturday at 10am to noon. Anyone needing help outside these hours can call The Sanctuary, which supports adults experienci­ng anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts or are in crisis, on 0300 003 7029.

If you are a victim of rape - or know someone who is - you can call police on 101. Always dial 999 where there is a threat to life or a crime in progress.

Alternativ­ely you can call the charity Crimestopp­ers, anonymousl­y, on 0800 555 111.

 ??  ?? ●●A Coronation Street storyline involving character David Platt has helped break down the stigma around male rape
●●A Coronation Street storyline involving character David Platt has helped break down the stigma around male rape
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 ??  ?? ●●Reports of male rape have soared after the jailing of paedophile Barry Bennell
●●Reports of male rape have soared after the jailing of paedophile Barry Bennell
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