Photo By Tech. Sgt. Noah Tancer | The 378th Air Expeditionary Wing’s Sexual Assault Response Coordination office...... read more read more
Subscribe
The 378th Air Expeditionary Wing’s Sexual Assault Response Coordination office hosted a Men’s SAPR Campaign event at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, July 26, 2022. The event's goal was to tell male sexual assault survivors’ stories and understand how sexual assault affects men in the military.
“We are here to bring attention and awareness to the fact that men are victims,” said Capt. Maria Castle, the sexual assault response coordinator with the 378th AEW. “Depending on what statistics you follow one out of four to five women and one out of five to six men are sexual assault victims in their lifetime.”
There are more men in the military than there are women, but only about 17 percent of all male sexual assault victims come forward as compared to about 38 percent of women.
“There is a big stigma in the military, for military men particularly, on why they may not want to come forward and why they may feel they are not part of the conversation,” said Castle. “If you think about any sexual assault training the focus is almost always a male perpetrator on a female victim and that’s not always reality, men are absolutely victims.”
Some symptoms of male sexual assault are social withdrawal, shame and guilt over masculinity, avoidance of thoughts and feelings, increased physiological characteristics, exaggerated startle response and self-questioning of sexuality.
“Male sexual assault is unique,” said Castle. “Think about the way our society treats boys, ‘be a man. You’re not supposed to cry. Don’t feel… be tough, toughen up.’ In the military we exacerbate that kind of behavior and create this tough exterior of a man and when they go through sexual assault it can cause a lot of shame, guilt and confusion.”
The military needs service members to be focused on the mission at hand and it can be very destructive to the unit and the member when they are not able to.
“Men are supposed to be tough,” said Castle. “But what happens when that toughness is taken away? ‘I should have been able to control that. I should have been able to stop it.’ They feel like they were not strong enough. ‘What does that say about me, I’m in the gym every day working out but I couldn’t get a 120-pound man or woman off of me.’”
Victims often blame themselves for putting themselves in that situation and not being able to get out of it. Men may end up feeling less of a man or judged because they are a man and their assailant took advantage of them when society is perceived to say that shouldn’t be possible.
“Heterosexual men, when their assailant is a male, may question their sexuality,” said Castle. “Because if they had a physiological reaction, which often happens because you can’t control how your body reacts. So ‘if I enjoyed it maybe I have feelings towards men that I didn’t know about.’”
Whereas, members of the LGBT+ community may react differently.
“Gay or bisexual men assaulted by men can lead to feelings of self-blame and self-loathing attached to their sexuality,” said Castle. “‘I was attacked because I do not fit into that cisgender norm.’ They might feel like they are paying the price or were targeted.”
Castle and seven event attendees read eight real-life stories of male sexual assault, the majority were submitted anonymously by military men. The floor was then opened to discussion.
“When somebody comes to you and says I’ve been sexually assaulted, they’re entrusting you with the deepest darkest secret that they’ve been holding on to,” said Castle. “The way they are reacted to will determine the path they go down and it can either be positive because they were believed or if they were not believed and were mocked, ‘I’m not telling anyone ever again.’ So if you do find yourself in a situation where someone is telling you their truth, even if you don’t understand it, it’s their truth and understand that empathy can go a long way.”
The Men’s SAPR Campaign’s mission is to bring awareness to and destigmatize the widespread yet unspoken male sexual assault in the military. Male or female, a victim of sexual assault or violence no matter the branch can visit the 378th AEW SAPR office, for either a restricted or unrestricted report to get the help they need their way.
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2022 10:02 |
| Story ID: | 426851 |
| Location: | PRINCE SULTAN AIR BASE, SA |
| Web Views: | 56 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Men’s SAPR Campaign, by TSgt Noah Tancer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
