“Male rape is a taboo subject” is the first sentence of the first edition of this volume, published in 1992. It is partly a tribute to the editors that times have changed, with the subject now being more openly discussed, and this new edition, with its updated research, is welcome.
I find it paradoxical that male rape has long been a cultural reality, for example, in prison dramas such as Pasolini's film,Saló (1975). Based on de Sade's120 Days of Sodom and set in fascist Italy, the film recounts the story of a group of young women and men imprisoned in a chateau and abused by four male ‘libertines’ with the help of female accomplices. Thus, Pasolini combines sexual and political aspects of assault, both of which are addressed in this volume (e.g. in Turner's chapter ‘Surviving sexual assault and sexual torture’ and Coxell & King's ‘The sexual assault of men in custodial environments’).
Among the other issues that are highlighted, relevant to both female and male sexual abuse, is the question of what is meant when an attack is described as sexual or political. The authors conclude that the definitions depend on context, either in particular, such as in a prison, or in a wider sociocultural environment, such as a culture of homophobia.
Of particular interest is the chapter on sexual assault in prisons: research describes apparently low incidence and prevalence levels, and the discussion here addresses whether or not this is actual or a result of underreporting. What seems clear is that the threat of rape is in itself very important and the authors ask whether rape in prison is an institutional myth whose function is to control inmates. This is a topic I would like to see explored more fully.
The volume is impressive in its collation of the current literature on male victims of sexual abuse in a variety of contexts, but I thought there to be some thinness of discussion around understanding why men, in particular, sexually attack other men. There is a difficulty in divorcing this entirely from homosexuality, which this book does at several points, as if sexual desire plays no part at all. It is important to emphasise, as some chapters do, that homosexuality in itself does not make someone more likely to commit a sexual crime, but that sexuality plays some part in what occurs. This topic is always difficult, and of help was West's chapter on homophobia; this explores men's fear of homosexuality (an explanation for some attacks), which appears to be more powerful than women's fear of it. From an anecdotal point of view, working in a secure unit, I have noticed that men who suffer from schizophrenia often have delusions about being sodomised by other men, when particularly paranoid.
The authors do not explore the nature of gender and of male (v. female) sexuality, and their relation to violence, as extensively as I would have liked. It is noted that far fewer girls than boys become sexual abusers after having been sexually abused themselves in childhood, and that research suggests that males report feeling less damaged by their experience of abuse than do females. However, the paradox is not examined in depth. I am either being unfair to the authors and editors or paying them a tribute by saying that they left me wishing for more.
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.