Male rape TV dramas spur men to report sexual assaults

TELEVISION dramas about male rape have contributed to a 57 per cent rise in men and boys aged over 13 reporting sexual assaults, official statistics show.

A report, published today by the Home Office, cited a Coronation Street male rape story about a hairdresser being sexually assaulted, which led to a 1,700 per cent increase in calls to the national male survivor helpline.

Since 2015-16, the number of reported sexual assaults of men and boys over 13 rose from 3,446 to 5,399 in 201718, fuelled in part by greater awareness from high profile court cases and TV dramas. The report was released as part of a new Government strategy to support male victims of abuse.

The male victims were included in a separate paper but as part of the cross government strategy on ending violence against women and girls, launched yesterday by Victoria Atkins, a Home Office minister.

The Home Office accepted that “gender-based” violence disproportionately affected women and girls but said it aimed to support all victims including men and boys.

It estimated that two million adults experienced domestic abuse, of which 695,000 were men.

An estimated 0.9 per cent of men in England and Wales – equivalent to 140,000 – were sexually assaulted in the year ending March 2018.

Measures include commitments by the Crown Prosecution Service to provide information for prosecutors to help challenge myths and stereotypes, and “understand the experience of male victims within the criminal justice system”.

Specialist organisations that support male victims are to get £500,000, with a further £500,000 going to LGBT domestic abuse organisations.

Men and boys will also get a share of the £24million that the Government is to spend to improve support for all victims of sexual violence.

The Home Office also pledged to “ensure communication campaigns are inclusive of men and boys to raise awareness of male victims and encourage male victims and survivors to report abuse”.