5 Male Rape Myths: A Phenomenon Whose Time Has Come

Any individual can be forced to have sex against their will. If someone does not want to have sex, or is not able to give fully informed consent, then they are being forced or coerced into unwanted sexual activity.

Men are just as affected by sexual assault as women, although it may be expressed differently.

Many men have experienced unwanted or unintentional arousal during a sexual assault, as men often get erections in painful or traumatic situations. Arousal from abuse can be confusing for survivors of assault, but like our heartbeat, physiological reactions like erections are often outside our control.

Men can be raped by women. This type of crime is often underreported due to gender stereotypes. Any unwanted sexual contact is sexual assault regardless of gender. Men can, in fact, be made to penetrate and forced into oral sex, among other things.

While abuse is prevalent in the sexual and gender minority community, it is most often the result of stigma and prejudice against a person who already identifies as or is labelled to be different than the accepted sexual orientation or assigned gender identity.

For more on this topic, see The Other#Me Too: Male Sexual Abuse Survivors.