Gender Differences in Silencing Following Childhood Sexual Abuse

Common stereotypes about male survivors can influence the professionals who serve them, leading some to reinforce silence by suggesting the victims could have stopped the abuse.

“O'Leary, and Barber (2008) found that popular stereotypes regarding male CSA survivors often reached the professionals working with them, causing them sometimes to help silence the victims by perpetuating the notion that they should have been able to prevent the abuse.”

Hostile views of male victims may deter boys from revealing abuse and men from talking about having been abused in childhood.

“O'Leary and Barber (2008) explained that “negative attitudes towards male victims clearly have the potential to discourage boys from disclosing and men from discussing their experiences as abused children” (p.136).”

A telephone survey of 145 men and 151 women found that men delayed disclosure longer than women and were more likely to be silenced.

“The authors conducted telephone interviews with 145 men and 151 women and found that males generally took longer than females to disclose and ran an increased risk of being silenced.”

O'Leary and Barber (2008) found that males had an increased chance of being silenced about their abuse.

“In other words, males had an increased chance of being silenced regarding their abuse.”

O'Leary and Barber (2008) found that social attitudes toward gender played an important role in silencing male victims.

“The authors noted that social attitudes towards gender seemed to play an important role in the silencing of male victims.”

O'Leary and Barber (2008) found that CSA disclosure was often delayed until later life, and this delay was even more common in men than in women.

“As several other authors have noted, it was found that 23! !disclosure of CSA was often delayed until much later in life, however it was additionally noted that this phenomenon seemed to be even more common in men than in women.”