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As has often been mentioned on this blog, there are woefully too few services available for male victims of rape and sexual assault. Far too often male victims get turned away from female-only/oriented services, cannot reach the few groups that do provide services for male victims or no such services exist in their areas at all. Unfortunately, this seems to be a particular issue in Canada, with very few services being available and the few that are in specific locales that many victims may not be able to get to. However, there is a push to create more services for the boys and men who need them:
Male victims of childhood sexual abuse need specialized support services and a provincial ombudsman dedicated to their plight, the Cornwall inquiry heard Friday as the $40-million probe drew to a close after three years of testimony.
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After a complaint in 1992 that a former altar boy had been sexually abused by a priest and a probation officer, many others came forward to allege they had also been abused by prominent people decades ago.
Many of those complainants were men, and a lawyer for the counselling group the Men’s Project said even though there were a lot of community services in the city at the time, none could adequately handle men’s counselling.
“In fact, they had to bring in my client from Ottawa because they were the only ones with expertise to deal with this,” David Bennett told the inquiry.
“Even though there were existing social services, they just weren’t able to deal with it and [that's] why there needs to be a specialized area.”
Both the Men’s Project and the Victims Group urged the commissioner to recommend that the Ontario government create victim-treatment service centres for male survivors of sexual abuse provincewide.
The article also goes on to explain the importance of providing such services:
In addition, the government needs to remedy how treatment for sexual-abuse victims is funded, the Men’s Project said.
Currently, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care assumes funding for recent sexual assaults, but a year after the assault, service is often refused and the person is referred to community services run by the Ministry of the Attorney-General, the Men’s Project said.
“Sexual-abuse victims, either male or female, experience post-traumatic stress issues that can only be defined as complex, potentially disabling and requiring specialized treatment,” the group said, in recommending the Health Ministry take responsibility for treatment funding.
The Men’s Project said, given the economic downturn, they are worried the government will not have the resources to fund services for male victims of sex-abuse. But it’s too important not to, the group said.
“To not deal with this issue, to not meet it head on, not to implement these types of recommendations, will cost the citizens of this province a great deal more,” Mr. Bennett said.
It is a shame, but it is possible that the downward economy could prevent services for male victims from being created. While there are some, particularly feminists, who consider support services for males unnecessary or a drain on funding that could be given to female-oriented services, it cannot be denied that male victims make up a significant portion of the victims of sexual violence and deserve to have access to the same treatment and services available to their female counterparts. Whether these services will be provided is still at issue, however, it a welcome sight to see that men’s groups seeking to help male victims are finally being taken seriously instead of simply being mocked and attacked by feminists and women’s groups.
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