The Unheard Voices: a content analysis of male victim narratives from an online forum.

The discourse surrounding sexual assault and rape has been predominantly centered around female victims. The lack of male representation in the discourse has created a deficiency in knowledge regarding the topic of male rape as well as a shortage of resources allocated to aiding these victims. The purpose of this thesis is to bring the voices of male victims into the discussion surrounding sexual assault. 74 narratives were randomly selected from an internet forum meant to support male victims (www.discussions.malesurvivor.org). These narratives were posted by male victims of sexual assault and contained a narration of the assault, including but not limited to rape. I collected data about the victims, the perpetrators, the relationship between the victim and perpetrator, the specified assault,disclosure, and the type of narrative. Through content analysis, I aim to provide quantitative data about the incidence of male sexual assault in addition to vocalizing the experiences of these male survivors.