For a Male Sexual Assault Survivor, Justice Won in Court Does Not Equal Healing

When Sam Schultz was sexually assaulted, it felt like a part of them died.

It took eight years and the burgeoning #MeToo movement to spur them to go public and make a police report, and an additional five years for their attackers to plead guilty.

Now, as much as Schultz hopes there's a reckoning coming in gay and queer communities, too, it feels like they are the one shouldering the blame, not the attackers. Instead of being able to focus on recovery, Schultz has been saddled with worries from other gay men that talking about sexual abuse in their community will hurt the fight for LBGTQ+ rights.

The pain of the assault and ensuing public attention and court proceedings have taken a huge toll.

"It is an exhausting and horrifying journey that I almost quit because it just takes way too much of a person," Schultz said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And to any person who has pursued justice and quit along the way, I get it. The system is not built for us. The system is built to protect certain people."

As many as 95% of male sexual violations go unreported, according to research cited in a review of scientific literature about male victims of sexual assault, published in April in the journal Behavioral Sciences. Four of five men who reported assaults regretted doing so, saying that police were often unsympathetic and disinterested and that the process just added more trauma.

Men may fail to report sexual assault because of stigma, shame, guilt and embarrassment; fear of not being believed; privacy concerns; and worries that their sexual orientation or masculinity will be questioned, according to research cited in the article.

Prominent male sexual abuse and assault survivors have come forward in recent years, including actor Anthony Edwards, of "ER" fame, who serves as the board chair and national spokesperson for the nonprofit 1in6 – so named because of research indicating that at least 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual abuse or assault.

__

This story includes discussion of sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or go to https://hotline.rainn.org.

__