92,000 incidents of sexual assault against men are going unreported

  – New report reveals just 3.9 per cent of male victims come forward to police

More than 96,000 sexual assaults or rapes were carried out against men across London between 2010 and 2014, suggests a new report from GLA Conservative Assembly Member Kemi Badenoch.

Research showed reporting rates of such crimes are as low as 3.9 per cent¹, with over 92,000 incidents going unreported to the Metropolitan Police.

The report, ‘Silent Suffering – supporting the male survivors of sexual assault’, addresses a series of existing barriers to male victims coming forward and calls on the Mayor of London to implement new policies that will enable men to seek the help and justice they need.

The report also found:
  – 60 per cent of victims are heterosexual
  – Men are currently included among statistics for female victims
  – Specially trained officers and greater signposting is needed to encourage male victims to come forward

GLA Conservative Assembly Member and report author Kemi Badenoch said:

“A staggering number of sexual assaults and rapes are being carried out against men across our city – yet an overwhelming majority of victims feel they cannot come forward. Tens of thousands of men are being made to suffer in silence because of social barriers and a lack of signposting towards appropriate support. I am calling on the Mayor of London and the Metropolitan Police to give male victims of sexual assaults and rape greater confidence to seek help.”

Male rape victim John Lennon, 46, said:

“When I was raped five years ago I didn’t know who to turn to. I wasn’t even sure if I could report it to the police. After eventually coming forward, and despite receiving excellent support from individual officers, I found there was a total lack of services dedicated to male victims. Sexual assault among men is a subject that is rarely addressed, but these figures show it is clearly a massive problem. I feel fortunate I was strong enough to come forward but there are thousands of men who feel unable to. Suffering in silence can destroy lives.”

The report: “Silent Suffering – supporting the male survivors of sexual assault” can be accessed at: glaconservatives.co.uk/ss/

Click here to download the report

Or to save it right click 'save as' on this link glaconservatives.co.uk/ss/

Notes:
¹Figure provided by Survivors UK from 5 years of their data.