Characteristics of Sexual Assault Among Men Receiving a Forensic Medical Examination

ABSTRACT

Sexual assault is a form of violence disproportionately perpetrated against women by men; however, men also experience high rates of sexual victimization. While recent research exploring victimization of sexual assault among men does exist, little is known about situational characteristics and consequences surrounding men’s assault experiences. Therefore, the current study examines narratives of men’s sexual assault to further understand the unique experiences of men receiving a sexual assault medical forensic examination. To accomplish this, we conducted a retrospective medical chart review of sexual assault narratives from N = 45 men receiving a sexual assault medical forensic examination at a large academic medical institution in the southeastern United States. Three general constructs were identified within the records: a) Perpetrator use of coercive tactics, b) Memory loss, and c) Contextual factors. Nested within these constructs, five specific themes emerged, including: a1) Use of weapons and physical force; a2) Tactical administration of alcohol and drugs; b1) Difficulties remembering assault; c1) Consensual sexual activity turned non-consensual; c2) Incarceration. Findings from the present study common identified characteristics of sexual assaults among men receiving a sexual assault medical forensic examination, including coercive tactics used by perpetrators, consequences of sexual assault, and high-risk settings for male victimization.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual assault
• rape
• men as victims
• sexual assault forensic examination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Notes

¹ For a comprehensive overview of standard SAMFE protocols and related-services, please refer to: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/206554.pdf

Additional information

Funding

Manuscript preparation was partially supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K23DA042935; PI: Gilmore), a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R00AA026317; PI: Dworkin) the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment, the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Affairs Central Virginia Health Care System, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC).

Notes on contributors

Daniel W. Oesterle

Daniel W Oesterle, M.S. is a clinical psychological sciences doctoral student within the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. His research focuses on examining risk factors for both victimization and perpetration of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and aggression.

Grace B. McKee

Grace McKee, PhD, is a statistician in the VA Endoscopy Quality Improvement Program (VA-EQuIP), which is supported by the Measurement Science Quality Enhancement Research Initiative at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She specializes in analyzing large-scale electronic health record data such as that in the national VA healthcare system.

Emily R. Dworkin

Emily R. Dworkin, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research addresses recovery from sexual assault and other forms of trauma and aims to identify strategies to facilitate survivors’ recovery.

Allyson M. Blackburn

Allyson M. Blackburn, M.S. (she & they) is a clinical/community psychology doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Leah E. Daigle

Leah E. Daigle, PhD, is a Distinguished University Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on the correlates and consequences of victimization and revictimization as well as the victimization of diverse groups.

Kathy Gill-Hopple

Kathy Gill-Hopple RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, is the former director of the Clinical Forensics Program at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC.

Amanda K. Gilmore

Amanda K. Gilmore, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University as well as the director of the National Center for Sexual Violence Prevention in the Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development. Her research focuses on the prevention of alcohol use, sexual assault, and suicide, as well as secondary prevention of substance use and mental health symptoms after sexual assault.