Men disclose sexual abuse 10 years later than women
A particular challenge in seeking to provide helpful information to men and support more helpful
Improving policy and practice responses for men sexually abused in childhood (malesurvivor.nz)
ways of coping is that men are very reluctant to disclose child sexual abuse (or adult sexual assault).
Research indicates that:
a majority of men who have experienced childhood sexual abuse have not told anyone (Holmes & Slap, 1998);
boys are less likely to disclose at the time sexual abuse occurs than girls (O’Leary & Barber, 2008; Paine & Hansen, 2002);
men typically disclose being sexually abused in childhood 10 years later than women—on average 22 years after the assault (Holmes & Slap, 1998; O’Leary & Barber, 2008; O’Leary & Gould, 2009);
men are one-and-a-half times less likely than women to report adult sexual assault to police (Pino & Meier, 1999);
men make fewer and more selective disclosures than women (Hunter, 2011).