A sexual abuse survivor is asking lawmakers to better acknowledge male rape victims and is calling for an end to gender comparisons in sexual abuse statistics.
Ken Clearwater, the National Advocate for peer support group Male Survivors Aotearoa, submitted to the Justice Select Committee on Thursday on the proposed Sexual Violence Legislation Bill.
Clearwater, who became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019 for his victim support work, said he has worked with “hundreds, if not thousands, of men” over the last 23 years, including men who have taken their own lives.
The South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (SECASA) provides services in Victoria, Australia within the Mornington Peninsula, City of Frankston, Bayside, Port Phillip, Stonnington Glen Eira and Kingston local government areas. In addition we also work in the Cities of Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia growth corridor.
Braving the stigma of male child abuse by a family member nonetheless is a large ordeal. But nothing could stop the staunch determination of Harish Iyer to come out and now work strongly as an influential activist. He is a story of overcoming your fears and prevaling over it.
Harish Iyer is an activist for a number of socio-cultural and environmental issues.[He is an equal rights activist, known for his campaigns for the rights of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, children, women, animals as well as survivors of Child Sexual Abuse .Pink Pages named him one of India’s seven most influential gay and lesbian people and one of the ten individuals to be awarded the Zindagi Live Awards for his work in creating awareness on child sexual abuse. On 29 June 2013, The Guardian, the British national daily named him in the list of the 100 most influential LGBT people in the world for 2013 and the only Indian on the list. His life inspired two films, director Onir’s I Am and Ranadeep Bhattacharya and Judhajit Bagchi directed Amen. In I Am, Actor Sanjay Suri plays Abhimanyu, a child sexual abuse survivor, the character inspired by Harish’s life and that of Hyderabad based fashion designer Ganesh Nallari.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Pastor Seth Shelley takes us on an emotional and at times difficult journey about male sexual violence. He brings forward his own story of sexual assault to ask men to open up about their personal stories too. Recorded at TEDxUNBC in Prince George, BC.
Bettina Arndt talks to rural expert Mary O’Brien about distorted government policies denying suicide is mainly a male problem linked to relationship breakdown.
Cardinal George Pell, a member of the Pope’s Council of nine advisers, was convicted of child abuse in Australia and sentenced to six years in prison in March 2019. CNN’s Anna Coren meets the people vowing to bring the Catholic church and its abusers to justice.
Source: CNN Vision
Please Note: This video has content that may be traumatising if you have been affected by abuse in the catholic church
To view the video, please visit the CNN website (24 minutes).
You have heard of the #MeToo movement. But have you heard of the #MenToo movement? Little is known about male trauma and Dr. Debra Warner explains that men are also suffering sexual assault. Dr. Debra Warner is a leading forensic psychologist, trauma expert, author, and speaker who specializes in male trauma. She is the spouse of a male survivor and authored “His History, Her Story, a Survival Guide for Spouses of Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma.” She has devoted her professional efforts to helping men and their loved ones confront and conquer their long term effects of trauma on the male psyche. She frequently addresses issues related to the #MenToo movement, challenges masculinity stereotypes, and works to dismantle stigmas related to male trauma. She currently is a professor at the Los Angeles campus of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Psy.D. in Clinical Forensic Psychology, and a sought-out expert witness, psychological evaluator, and consultant. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
The government has reaffirmed its commitment to an independent inquiry into the sexual abuse of those in state care.
The news comes as survivors of abuse call for an investigation similar to Australia’s Royal Commission.
“It’s a very difficult thing to face, it’s a painful moment in a country’s history to acknowledge those past injustices,” Patrick O’Leary from the Australian Royal Commission said.
Judge Carolyn Henwood, heard from over 1000 New Zealand victims in her seven years on the confidential listening service.
“We need something independent because we haven’t yet got accountability and we haven’t got a pathway forward for the future as to how we’re going to give an access to justice,” she said.
A straight forward message coming from abuse survivor Jim Goodwin.
“We have to do this, as a country we have to do this.”
