Reported Cases of Sexual Abuse Against Men Triple in England and Wales

LONDON — It took one man 32 years to speak out about the time he was raped by a group of older boys at his high school in Britain, and three more years before he reported the attack to police.

“I was 14 years old and didn’t even know what rape was,” Noah, a private tutor, recalled in a phone interview Friday. “I felt ashamed and was worried that if I told any of my friends what happened, they would think I was gay or weak.”

Noah’s story illustrates how the culture of fear that has long kept survivors of sexual assault silent has been breaking down in recent years. His case was among 12,130 reports of sexual offenses against men and boys in England and Wales in a one-year period between 2016 and 2017, according to figures released to The New York Times and other news agencies Friday. That number is more than triple the figure reported between 2006 and 2007, when 3,819 were noted by police, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In Britain, the shift has been driven by a series of high-profile cases, such as one against disgraced television personality Jimmy Savile and another alleging child sexual abuse in the world of British soccer.

Greater awareness has also been sparked by the outpouring of testimony from women about sexual harassment and abuse as part of the global #MeToo movement.

That has spurred more men to speak out, experts say.

“Although the campaign was centered on women, it empowered male victims to also speak out about their experiences,” said Noah, who did not want to be identified by his last name because there are still people close to him who do not know of the abuse he suffered.

The reported numbers for men that were released Friday are still far lower than those reported for women and girls, which themselves increased by 81 percent over the same period.

“There has been quite a significant change in how willing society is to listen to these experiences now and take them seriously, which has led to more men coming forward,” said Andy Connolly, acting chief executive of Survivors UK, a male rape and sexual abuse organization.

A study conducted by the charity in 2016 found that it took a male abuse victim 26 years on average to come forward.

“The pressures and the barriers for men to come out are different to women,” Connolly said. “There are issues around ideas of masculinity and the ideas of what it means to be a man.”

Noah said that while growing up with three brothers and an abusive father in northern England, he was taught to always be tough and take care of himself.

“I don’t even think my Dad knew that male rape existed,” he said. “I could never talk to him about it. I know he would blame me.”

Authorities are still investigating his case, he said.

An estimated 12,000 men are raped in England and Wales each year, according to Rape Crisis, a support group for victims of rape.

Male victims who spoke to The New York Times noted key differences in how their cases are treated, compared to sexual assault against women. Some news media outlets, they say, use different terminology to report on male and female sexual abuse, often describing female predators as “having sex” with a victim instead of “raping” or “abusing” them.

But media coverage is improving, men say. As more predators are being brought to justice and cases are publicized, more men also appear to be gaining the confidence to report abuse to British authorities and seek help for trauma, experts say.

Since the #MeToo campaign began, Survivors UK said, it has seen a record number of men calling its help lines in January.