An event in Newcastle will explore some of the reasons why men in the North East don't seek out support for unwanted sexual experiences.
The Men’s Unwanted Sexual Experiences (MUSE) project has interviewed around 17 men from across the North East to uncover some of the barriers men experience when trying to seek support.
Dr Carl Bonner-Thompson, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, is just one of the researchers behind the project in collaboration with the Male Survivor Partnership and ManKindUK. It comes as a recent survey by ManKind UK for 1in6.uk highlighted that 42% of men in the UK have experienced at least one form of unwanted sexual contact and they rarely seek formal support.
Dr Bonner-Thompson interviewed a number of men in both the South East and North East as part of the project. He found there were a number of issues men faced including the fear of not being believed and issues around workplaces taking reports seriously.
He explained: "We wanted to understand what was happening and why men are not coming forward for help and what is stopping them from seeking support. I found that there were a lot of issues like worrying they won't be believed but there were also other issues like the assumption that men always want to have sex.
"We've heard from men who have tried to raise issues at work and work doesn't care so there are lots of different ways they fall through the net. Some men are going to their GP to talk about issues around depression and anxiety and they're not getting to the root cause of it. We have also found that a lot of men are quick to say that they don't need to be looked after but that other men need help."
The project, which Dr Kirsty McGregor and Dr Jason Preston are also researchers for, hopes to help men find support after unwanted sexual experiences. But despite Dr Bonner-Thompson being aware of the issues men faced he said it was "eye-opening" to hear real-life stories.
He said: "My research is around different types of men so I was aware of these issues to an extent but seeing people actually talk about their experiences rather than seeing them written down on a piece of paper was quite eye-opening. We want to keep doing the project and take it to the next stage by going national then we can get more statistics and evidence from a bigger sample."
Dr Bonner-Thompson also spoke about the impact it can have on men's mental health and said for some it's about recognising that men can be victims. He added: "Our sample age is from 24-50 so for those who are a bit older they might have waited 40 years until they got help and that's a really long time to store everything up.
"Mental health is not great for anyone but for men, it's about them just recognising that they do need help and support. Some men just want people to know that men can be victims as some people don't think they can."
The MUSE event will take place at 'The Common Room' in Newcastle on Wednesday, July 6 between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. The event will showcase art that was created by men who took part in the project, a talk about the findings, and a panel discussion with MESMAC, Safe Newcastle, and Changing Lives.
The research is a collaboration between the University of Brighton, 1in6.uk, the Male Survivors Partnership, and ManKindUK. ManKindUK is a Sussex-based charity offering support for men affected by unwanted sexual experiences. 1in6.uk is an information and campaign-focused website by and for survivors of sexual violence, abuse, or assault.
If you’d like to attend the event, you can sign up here. If you would like to take part in the project, you can get in touch here.
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