Training help in Highlands for male sex abuse victims
IT is estimated that one in six males have been victims of sexual abuse including rape, but this ratio is hard to prove due to men’s fear of admitting it happened to them.
Stephen Linturn founder of the Kinloss based charity Men in Recovery said: “It is a difficult audience to capture but the impact on the men, their families and on society can be immense.
“Many victims turn to self harm, depression or suicide, while others become involved in violence or addiction.”
Male abuse is under-reported because males are embarrassed or frightened, but Mr Linturn said the situation is “improving in some small way.”
While it is mostly male on male abuse, he said it was estimated 10 per cent of perpetrators were female.
The recent publicity surrounding abused footballers was helping more men consider seeking help, but he said he was sure other sports were involved too. And it is thanks to workshops for victims held by charities such as Men in Recovery that more and more men are confronting their past ordeals and seeking help.
It is therefore vital that people such as doctors, nurses, counsellors, teachers and therapists who might encounter these men, are well equipped to give them the best help possible.
For that reason Men in Recovery is holding a training day for practitioners on April 29 in the Waterside Hotel, Inverness from 9.30am to 5pm, when Mr Linturn will preside before the gathering is addressed by Duncan Craig, a psychotherapist specialising in sexualised trauma, and post traumatic stress, who founded and is CEO of Survivors Manchester.
Mr Linturn said that Men in Recovery’s purpose was to inform and educate, and to run workshops for victims. Many will be put in contact with the charity through a relationship of trust with professionals who will benefit from the training days.
He said: “Men who come along can experience extremely high levels of fear, terror even, so it is vital that our practitioners have a good understanding of the sexually abused male.”
Male sexual abuse covers from brutal rape right through to harassment, touching and improper advances.
