Male Rape

Definition and Prevalence

No agreed-upon definition or measure of MSA is currently used in research or for legal purposes, so it is difficult to compare prevalence rates across studies. Researchers have proposed that a standard measure or definition should be used to move research forward in this area. A general comprehensive definition of male rape may be oral, anal, or vaginal sex that occurred without the man's consent through taking advantage of his incapacitated state resulting from drug or alcohol use, threats of physical harm, or the use of physical force or weapons. MSA could then be defined more broadly to also include such things as unwanted sexual touching and the use of verbal coercion to obtain sex.

Based on data from the United States and United Kingdom, between 3% and 8% of men report experiencing at least one attempted or completed rape during adulthood. Put another way, an estimated 5% to 10% of all adult sexual assault victims are male and compose 4% to 16% of the sexual assault cases seen by crisis centers and emergency rooms. If one also includes sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and other coercive sexual experiences, these rates are significantly higher, ranging from 25% to 94% of sexual assault cases. It is likely that the lower range of percentages are underestimates because of men's reluctance to report experiences of MSA for a number of reasons, such as feelings of shame and embarrassment or beliefs that they will be blamed, labeled homosexual or feminine, disbelieved, ridiculed, or negatively treated for their assault.

Research demonstrates that MSA can take place in any number of settings and affects college students, community members, the homeless, prison inmates, and military service members. The largest number of assaults is believed to take place among incarcerated people in jails and prisons, although it remains unclear what percentage of prisoners experience sexual violence and to what extent prisoners are apt to underreport such experiences. [Page 356]Prevalence findings in the research literature have ranged widely, but researchers estimate that between 4.5% and 20% of male prisoners have been sexually victimized in some way while incarcerated. In the military, estimates are much lower, with between 1% and 6% of men reporting sexual victimization during military service.

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