The invisible, the alien and the marginal: Social and cultural constructions of male rape in voluntary agencies
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758017745614 |
| Published date | 01 January 2019 |
| Date | 01 January 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The invisible, the alien and the
marginal: Social and cultural
constructions of male rape
in voluntary agencies
Aliraza Javaid
University of the West of England, UK
Abstract
Drawing on a Foucauldian approach and on interview data including male rape counsellors,
therapists and voluntary agency caseworkers (N¼70), the author attempts to make sense of the
different ways in which male rape is constructed in order to better understand how it is considered
and responded to in current English society. The qualitative data herein, which were collected
through semi-structured interviews and qualitative questionnaires, are theoretically and con-
ceptually informed. The author argues that male rape is socially and culturally constructed in
voluntary agencies in England and shaped by discourse, power and knowledge. For example, dis-
course on male rape is constructed and reconstructed through social and power relations, and
through social interactions between voluntary agency practitioners and male rape victims,
accompanied by the attendant social structures and social practices. The implication of these
arguments is that the voluntary agency practitioners think about and respond to male rape victims
in an inconsistent, unpredictable and variable way, meaning that the practitioners are reliant on
different discourses and cultural myths about male rape when providing support and services for
male rape victims.
Keywords
Foucault, power, discourse, male rape myths, male sexual victimization
Introduction
Rape is a crime of acute violence. It can occur anywhere, at anytime and against anyone. Although
men are mostly offenders of rape, women can also commit rape against men; however, the legal
status of female offenders against males is complicated. Physically, a woman cannot rape a man
Corresponding author:
Aliraza Javaid, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK.
Email: ali_2p9@hotmail.co.uk
International Review of Victimology
2019, Vol. 25(1) 107–123
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758017745614
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according to how the offence is defined in law. In English law, rape requires a penis to be inserted
into a person’s vagina, anus or mouth without their consent and knowing that he/she has not given
consent. However, should a woman force a man to penetrate her, she is liable to life imprisonment
for assault by penetration, which has the same sanctions as rape but differs in its semantic value.
For example, Abdullah-Khan (2008) found that male victims being forced to penetrate women
classified this as rape, but in law it was not, which created invalidation for these victims. The
victims were made to feel they were not ‘real’ rape victims. Rape for both men and women is a
crime with lasting emotional, physical and mental implications. Voluntary agencies exist to
address these implications.
It is, therefore, significant to critically examine the ways in which practitioners in voluntary
agencies construct male rape because such organizations are the first port of call when male rape
victims seek support, counselling and treatment. By res earching voluntary agencies’ attitudes
towards and responses to male rape victims, the aims of this article can be fulfilled and answered.
It is important to consider whether cultural myths relating to male rape, which emerge from social
relations and social structures, affect the type of service delivery voluntary agencies provide to
male rape victims. To elucidate and make sense of the data presented herein, the author draws on
the works of Foucault (1972, 1976, 1991). Sociological and cultural studies are the most suitable
areas of study for providing knowledge and understanding of how male rape is culturally and
socially constructed in voluntary agencies in England. The study does not claim to represent the
culturally constructed realties of all voluntary agency practitioners in England, but rather provides
a snapshot of some practitioners’ attitudes towards and responses to male rape that are shaped and
reshaped by cultures, discourses, and social and power relations. Thus, this article provides some
knowledge and understanding of how male rape myths, which are culturally and socially con-
structed, inform the practitioners’ attitudes towards and responses to male rape victims in a local
and regional context.
In terms of the structure of the article, the academic and theoretical contexts with regard to the
subject of male rape are first described. Thereafter, the empirical study is introduced to provide the
data that the author uses to develop theories using Foucauldian understandings o f power and
discourse. Following on from this, the article will critically analyse whether voluntary agency
practitioners construct male rape as a social problem in voluntary agencies; close attention is paid
to the practitioners’ cultures. It is argued that some voluntary agency practitioners conceptualize
male rape as insignificant and unproblematic and their constructions of male rape are shaped by
their cultural ideologies and social structures. The article goes on to examine the link between
voluntary agencies and cultural constructions of male rape myths. Some practitioners subscribe to
such myths, and these shape the ways in which they deal with male rape victims in practice.
Finally, the key themes of the article are outlined in the conclusion.
Statistical, academic and theoretical contexts with regard
to the subject of male rape
Statistical and academic context
The Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics (Ministry of Justice, 2013) estimate
there to be 430,000–517,000 adult sexual offence victims every year with 54,000–90,000 of these
being men. These figures are derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, where crime
reporting is anonymous and the data are likely to be far more accurate than official police figures
108 International Review of Victimology 25(1)
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