By Chung Ah-young
The number of male victims of sexual offenses soared by 42.3 percent in 2014 from three years previously, a report showed Thursday.
According to the report released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the number of male victims of sexual offenses reported to the police has risen rapidly from 749 in 2011 to 828 in 2012, 1,021 in 2013 and 1,066 in 2014.
Following the increase, men made up 5.1 percent of victims of the total sexual offenses reported in 2014, up from 3.8 percent in 2011.
By type, sexual harassment represents 60 percent of cases for male victims, followed by rape with 20 percent.
The report showed various cases, where the offenders were the victims’ female bosses or female customers of taxis or chauffeur services.
Most male victims suffer from psychological trauma as well as physical injury just as female victims of sexual offenses do.
Among male victims who visited the Sunflower Center, a ministry-run support facility for victims of sexual violence, 53 percent expressed depression and anxiety while 26 percent showed anger after the experience.
The ministry said that male victims are vulnerable to repeated sexual abuse because of misconceptions about sex crimes that only women are victims.
It made and distributed a guide for male victims at the Sunflower Centers, the first of its kind in Korea.
The guide said that male victims often suffer from sexual identity problems after experiencing a sexual offense. They tend to be confused about their masculinity because many think a lack of this was the reason for their victimization. Thus, they tend to hide their feelings of vulnerability or lethargy due to social misconceptions of masculinity.
“In recovering from their trauma, it is important for male victims to be free from the social norms of masculinity,” the guide said.
Also, when the perpetrators are men, the victims develop a negative perception of their own sexual identity. “In this case, they can develop homophobia,” the booklet said.
The materials said many people mistakenly think male victims would feel less pain and trauma than females.
“Such idea worsens the victims’ pain and makes it difficult to solve the problem,” said Im Gwan-sik, director general of the ministry’s women’s and youth rights promotion bureau. “We should change our perception that sexual violence victims are only women. It can happen to any gender.”