“They all laughed and asked me if I enjoyed having sex with those guys”: Exploring men’s lived experiences when reporting rape to police in South Africa

Abstract

Rape is the most demoralizing type of crime violating human rights worldwide. Research has primarily focused on children and women's experiences of rape, even though victims include men and little documentation available concerning their experiences of reporting these incidents. The study aimed to investigate men's experiences when reporting rape to the police. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to collect and analyze qualitative data from a purposive sample of eleven men who were rape victims. The findings of the study revealed three superordinate and twenty-two subordinate themes. First, motivation for reporting rape to the police included self-protection from re-victimization, being killed, and prevalent prison cultural practice, seeking justice and answers for rape, moral duty, family support, and encouraging reports of the crime. Second, perceived barriers for reporting rape included fear of stigmatization and ridicule, unknown perpetrators, internalized homophobia, men's preconceived prejudices, perceived justice system delays, fear of being killed, and protecting their reputation. Third, negative experiences when reporting rape included a long waiting period at the reception before opening a case file and the delayed responses of police investigating the rape scene. Also, there was discouragement from the police, disparaging behavior of police, victim-blaming, lack of communication with the victim about case progress and experiences of police homosexual intolerance. The findings show that most men were motivated to report rape to the police despite the perceived barriers and negative experiences they had with the police. Thus, this provides baseline evidence for strategies to be developed to encourage the reporting of rape. Each police station must provide dedicated personnel for professional and sensitive handling of all rape victims, including men. Furthermore, future studies should be conducted to evaluate rape victims' satisfaction with the services provided by the police.

The Contribution of Forensic Psychology to Improve the Protection of Rape Victims in Trials

“…3. Consultation (Buffone & Goldman, 2021;Henky, 2017;Mgolozeli & Duma, 2020;Sutama et al, 2023) Forensic psychologists provide consultation that is important in the recovery process of rape victims. Through in-depth assessment, psychologists help victims cope with trauma and move on with life by providing needed support and guidance.…”

“…The results showed that it is often difficult to prove rape or sexual assault, especially if there are no witnesses (Kazmi et al, 2023). The public is still not fully aware of the law, especially sexual crimes against women and children (Mgolozeli & Duma, 2020). Victims may also fear social retaliation or discrimination.…”

Ákvörðun þolenda ofbeldis að tilkynna brot til lögreglu

“…Á meðan þolendaskömm í kynferðisbrotum gegn konum tengist hugmyndinni um að konur séu að hluta til ábyrgar fyrir ofbeldinu er líklegt að í kynferðibrotum gegn körlum tengist hún frekar hugmyndum um hvað það merkir að vera karlmaður. Karlkyns þolendur kynferðisbrota geta upplifað aukna skömm vegna þeirrar mýtu að líkamlegur styrkleiki þeirra aetti að koma í veg fyrir að kona geti beitt þá ofbeldi, eða að karl sem er nauðgað af öðrum karli hljóti að vera samkynhneigður (Lysova & Dim 2020;Mgolozeli & Duma 2020;Tsui o.fl. 2010).…”

University undergraduates’ perception of the menace of rape: Causes and effect

“…Despite a lack of comprehensive statistics in Nigeria, evidence from several states indicates that rape incidents are rising (Izzi & Obinuch, 2016). Rape is a worldwide issue (Persson & Dhingra, 2021) and is recognised as the most traumatic experience, with harmful implications for victims and their families (Mgolozeli & Duma, 2020). It is considered a traumatic event with long-term health consequences (Olaleye & Ajuwon, 2019;Oshodi et al, 2020).…”