Sexual Assault Against Boys and Young Men

This article was originally posted on the #LifesongKenya website.

Sexual assault against boys and young men is happening, much more than is perhaps reported or mentioned. This is due to the fact that – according to popular opinion and societal norms – it is girls and women who face sexual abuse and assault.?

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With #women and #girls being the most targets of crime, offense and conflict, our main aim is to develop #boys and exceptional #youngmen who will treat women and girls with dignity, respect and honor.

We empower first time offenders to learn the harm of conflict, offense and crime, so they can have the power to take full responsibility and be able to make amends for the harm caused.

Once this happens, we move to the next step which involves family, the police and the person who has been hurt, offended or wronged.

When our exceptional young men take full responsibility for their mistakes, their families, the police and people who have been wronged often offer to withdraw court cases, allowing our exceptional young men to exit prison with valuable lessons learned.

"Despite an explosion of research on the issue over recent decades, most research reported in the literature is focused on girls. There is significantly less attention given to boys, and, in fact, prior to 1980 it is difficult to find any research involving males who have been sexually abused."

- Jan L. Frayne

What Lifesong Kenya is doing about sexual assault?

#sexualassault against boys and men is happening, much more than is perhaps reported or mentioned. This is due to the fact that – according to popular opinion and societal norms – it is girls and women who face #sexualabuse and assault.

Even though #boys and #men who have been sexually assaulted experience many of the same effects and reactions as other #survivorsofsexualassault, they also face additional challenges due to #stereotypes and #attitudes about men and #masculinity.

Apart from teaching exceptional young men to treat women and girls with #dignity, #respect and #honor, we are planning to offer shelter for boys and young men who have been sexually assaulted through our #transitionalhousing program.

We are also working towards having cases of sexual assault against boys reported through our After-School and Standing With Boys programs. We have also started collaborating with groups and organizations that work with women and girls in order to have more impact on girls and boys.

I believe that sexual assault against both girls (women) and boys (men) is an issue that calls for pulling together in the same direction and working together. We welcome you to join us in this fight and together, let's make our #communities, #schools, #workplaces and #homes safer places for both men and women, boys and girls and live side by side and thrive.

Get involved in our work as a #partner, #volunteer or #ambassador.