Table Of ContentMale Rape
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Male Rape
The Emergence of a Social and Legal Issue
Noreen Abdullah-Khan
© Noreen Abdullah-Khan 2008
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-52076-9
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First published 2008 by
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Abdullah-Khan,Noreen,1973-
Male rape:the emergence of a social and legal issue / Noreen
Abdullah-Khan.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Male rape. 2. Male rape—Psychological aspects. 3. Male rape victims.
4. Sex crimes. I. Title.
HV6558.A32 2008
362.883081—dc22 2008016142
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vi
Acknowledgements vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Taking Victims into Account and Considering the
Impact of Victim blame 9
2 Contextualising the Issue of Male Rape 15
3 Theoretical Explanations for the Occurrence of Male Rape 39
4 Researching Male-on-Male Rape 93
5 Challenging Myths? Male Rape in the News 103
6 The Metropolitan Police Service 116
7 The Nature and Impact of Male Rape: Empirical Findings
from Survivors of Male Rape 183
8 Policy Directions for Male Rape and Conclusions 219
Notes 238
References 247
Index 262
v
Figures and Tables
Figure 0.1 Chronology of male rape 4
Figure 5.1 Newspaper coverage of male rape 106
Figure 6.1 The problem of male rape 120
Figure 6.2 Do you think male rape is considered an important
issue in the police? 129
Figure 6.3 Comparing treatment of male and female
victims of rape 133
Figure 6.4 Who do you think are most likely to become
victims of male rape? 151
Figure 6.5 Officers’ views on victim responses to attack 171
Figure 7.1 Gender of callers (total sample(cid:2)39) 187
Figure 7.2 Survivors’ awareness of vulnerability to rape 201
Figure 7.3 Survivors’ definitions of rape 203
Figure 7.4 Type of attack 204
Figure 7.5 Forms of violence used during the attack 205
Figure 7.6 Survivors’ disclosure of the attack(s) 211
Table 6.1 Gender of sample in relation to overall gender
distribution in the MPS 117
Table 7.1 Ethnicity of survivors and attacker(s) 188
Table 7.2 Number of survivors reporting rape to the police 189
Table 7.3 The sexuality of survivors 192
Table 7.4 Place of assault 193
Table 7.5 Connection between perpetrator(s) and survivor 194
Table 7.6 Relationship between survivor and perpetrator(s) 195
Table 7.7 Number of attackers 195
Table 7.8 Effects of rape: Victimisation survey data 197
Table 7.9 How survivors responded during the attack 207
vi
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr Jayne Mooney and
Professor Jeanne Gregory for their continuous support over the years it
took to complete this work. Their dedication, guidance and ever-important
feedback are very much valued. My thanks also go to Professor Jock Young
for helping in the initial stages of designing the questionnaires used in this
study and for all his encouraging words throughout. My special thanks go
to Survivors UK and especially to Richard Curen for always being helpful
and for his continuous dedication to the plight of survivors. Also, I would
like to extend my gratitude to Mike Worth for helping to make sense of the
statistical data in its early stages. The survivors in this study remain name-
less, yet their presence and experiences have hopefully been made visible.
I would like to extend special thanks to them for their immense courage,
not only in participating but also in surviving and coping. My apprecia-
tion also goes to the counsellors who took the time to offer their valuable
insights into this important issue. My heartfelt thanks are extended to Iain
Ferguson for his backing, his tremendous enthusiasm to carry on with the
work and for always being helpful. Thanks also go to the many other
police officers that shared their time and their experiences to help make a
difference.
Azima Khatun’s friendship has provided hours of fun and laughter over the
years, and I would like to say a special thanks for all those wonderful times.
I would like to thank my brother Samir for always managing to make me
smile, for his strength during difficult times and for his wonderful spirit
and thoughtfulness. I would like to extend a special thanks to both my
parents – my father, for his courage, his bravery and for the wonderful
inspiration he has been; and my beautiful late mother, who taught me the
meaning of wisdom, patience and the importance of love, and who
showed me that everything is possible, if only we carry on believing. This
project has been completed because of the support, guidance and love of
my husband, Mohammad, who has offered countless hours inputting data
and presenting it in digestible form. He has shaped my ideas, given me
direction and, most importantly, given me hope in my darkest of hours.
His contributions are reflected throughout the book. I will forever be
indebted to Mohammad for his strength, patience, caring and for always
being there. Finally, to Yousef and Noor, thank you for the gift of uncon-
ditional love and laughter.
vii
viii Acknowledgements
I would in humble appreciation like to dedicate this work to my late mother,
who would have been so happy and proud at the completion of this project; to
my father, from whom I have learned so much; and to my wonderful husband,
who has always believed in me and offered practical and emotional support
always.
January 2008
Abbreviations
AO Administrative Officer
BAC British Association of Counselling
CPS Crown Prosecution Service
DC Detective Constable
DCI Detective Chief Inspector
DI Detective Inspector
DS Detective Sergeant
FME Forensic Medical Examiner
GUM Genito-Urinary Medicine
IAG Independent Advisory Group
MPS Metropolitan Police Service
MVSASG Male Victims of Sexual Abuse Steering Group
PC Police Constable
PI Police Inspector
PS Police Sergeant
PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
RCC Rape Crisis Centres
SOE Sexual Offence Examination
SOIT Sexual Offences Investigation Techniques
VSS Victim Support Schemes
ix
