A multi-country study of young boys who have survived sexual assault showed that the issue remains unacknowledged and under-addressed, owing to the perception that "boys cannot be abused."
The study was conduced across India, Nepal, Cambodia and Philippines, with the interview of 122 boys and young men, between 12 and 25, who were sexually abused. The study also included 87 parents or caregivers and 75 key informants.
The study was led by the United Kingdom (UK)-based Family for Every Child (FFEC), a global alliance of 41 local civil society organisations from 37 countries, while the India chapter of the study was led by the NGO Butterflies in India.
Across the four countries, men identified with two roles within the family system – being a provider and a protector of girls.
"Dominant notions of masculinity serve to instruct boys that they must be strong and independent and that they are responsible for what happens to them. Boys are reproached differently to girls for their abuse, for example being seen as weak for ‘allowing it to happen’, and, where the abuser is male, stigmatised as deviant," the report said.