Get Your Facts Right! | Huffington Post

http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/11916642

I am a man, not a woman or girl, a man who was sexually abused and raped by a man and have many times felt less of a man because of what happened. I do not want to be categorised as a woman or girl, I want to be seen as the man that I am! So why cant you do that for me? Why can’t you tell me how many men like me have been through what I’ve been through because I want to remember I’m not the only one. Every time I want to talk about sexual violation against boys and men, I feel like I have to say something about this doesn’t mean I’m ignoring women and girls. Why do I feel like I have to do that, this isn’t a competition for goodness sake.

Labelling sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, prostitution, and forced marriage as ‘violence against women and girls’ is not only factually incorrect but also it silences the boys and men from ever stepping out of their darkness. It tells journalists and the public alike this is an issue affecting women and girls and nothing else. It creates tension between those organisations supporting women and girls, and those supporting men and boys. It puts those of us support males at a disadvantage in the funding race as we don’t have the nationally recognised data to prove a need.