About the project
Recent research has highlighted the deleterious impact of sexual violence on men, limiting and hindering their access to support and criminal justice services. However, research has failed to examine the cultural barriers (and enablers) to disclosure and help-seeking likely experienced by men from minoritised ethnic groups, who encounter added pressures to conceal sexual trauma and adhere to masculinity norms and scripts. Given the unequal access to care for marginalised communities, it is essential to understand how culture and ethnicity shape male survivors’ vulnerabilities and decisions around disclosing, seeking help and reporting to the police. We will qualitatively examine the experiences of sexual victimisation of Black and Asian men in the UK. This research will provide novel insight into this hidden phenomenon, by exploring how disclosure and help seeking may be affected by cultural pressures, towards informing practice and policy across vital entry points, including third and criminal justice sectors.
Funders
British Academy/Leverhulme
Investigators
Principal investigator: Kennath Widanaralalage Don
Co-Investigators: Prof Coral Dando and Dr Jay-Marie Mackenzie