The number of men seeking help after being sexually abused has soared – and victims’ groups fear the effects of the Jimmy Savile scandal will push the numbers even higher.
A counselling service for male victims of sexual assault said the number of men it helps has more than trebled in the last five years.
And Brighton-based Mankind said it expects more to come forward following the Savile revelations.
The organisation is one of only a handful of organisations helping male victims of sexual violence in Britain but it has been snubbed by the Government for support.
Minister Helen Grant announced £4 million in funding to open four new rape crisis centres and secure 65 existing centres.
But Martyn Sullivan, the chief executive of Mankind Counselling in Brighton, said: “We welcome any funding that supports victims of rape and sexual abuse but it saddens us that yet again little thought has been given to adult male survivors of sexual crimes.
“The Government’s own figures estimates that 1 in 9 males have suffered childhood sexual abuse and 1 in 29 have experienced rape in adulthood. With this decision, they have chosen to ignore the 3.8 million actual men and boys that these figures represent.
“Male specific agencies were excluded from the Rape Support Fund last year and it looks like the same thing has happened again.
“There has been a rise in cases being reported in light of the Jimmy Savile scandal and we are expecting even more cases.”
Years alone
Brighton victim Adrian*, 38, was repeatedly raped at a children’s home from the age of seven.
It took him two decades to seek help by which time he had fallen into a life of drugs and crime.
He said: “I now have a good job, a lady and a baby son. I am proud of who I have become and look forward to what and who I can be. Thank God for Mankind, because otherwise I’d be dead by now.”
To donate to Mankind visit www.mankindcounselling.org.uk.
*Not his real name
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