AWARENESS ON MALE SEXUAL ASSAULT
BY SUMMER BARRAZA
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
O ft e n , w h en I read
fra ctio n a l sta tistics lik e ,
“ one in three people w ill
have a great day to d a y ,” I
look up and begin to count the
people’ around me and I think to
m yself, “ Okay out of the three people I have
counted , one of us might have a good day,” and
it’ s always made me wary of what other people
deal with on a daily basis. Usually, they aren’ t
always that positive and are often used for mental
illness and disorders such as anxiety.
M ental illness has always been in the light
and certain disorders- even the topic as a whole
have their own circles of Support and awareness.
However, the potential causes of mental illness
are put to rest. What else could make you look
up from this paper right now, to count the heads
of people who have been affected? How they
cope? What it ’ s like to be them? One in six men
have been sexually abused. While the fraction
of men who are sexually abused is smaller, only
two away from the amount of women who are
abused, there are still men out there who have
not come out.
R ecen tly , in the meclia, there have been
num erous outings of Hollywood executives
and celebrities who have sexually harassed, or
assaulted the women we see on the big screen.
With so much emphasis on the strong women
who have been dragged through trauma and dirt,
there are bound to be people who fall in between
the spaces of Hollywood’ s b la ck list- the men.
Terry Crews and Brendan Fraser are two of the
men so far who have come but about being groped
in public by Hollywood executives and talent
agents, which can destroy an actors career. This
can be said about Fraser, as he was no longer cast
in movies or television until noW and people had
wondered where he had gone. Terry Crews still
has to split his earnings with the man who groped
him publicly. It seems like we don’t hear enough
about this to get garner-an uproar.
Being a man and coming out about these types
of issues is very difficult, as society often puts
men into rigid metal boxes of masculinity where
they are reprimanded for showing any signs of
sensitivity, vulnerability or hesitation. When a
man or a young boy is sexually abused there is hot
a single reaction, it’ s a multitude of reactions.
These reactions leave out the honest feelings of
the victim involved, often making their attacker
even more powerful and the victim weaker.
Exam ples of this depend on the sex of the
attacker. If it is a wom an, then he probably
enjoyed it, right? If it’ s a m an, then h e’ s gay
and not to be associated with. With accusations
like these, it isn’t easy to come out arid get help.
What can we do as people who have relationships
with the men who have been treated so unfairly?
We treat them like humans. Through discussio
n, patience, an open mind and having other male
survivors offer their support is part of the slow
process of healing. We can no longer be there for
one, we have to be there for all.
If you are seeking help, you can schedule an
appointment with counseling or Mary Vest; the
Sexual Assault Advocate oh campus in her office
in Barlow Hall in room 221A.
There are also many online resources like iin6.
org for men who have been sexually abused, and
rainn.org which is a hotline that will connect you,
with local specialists to get you the help you need.
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Clackamas Print
theclackam asprint.net
March 7, 2018