Often abusers are parents or other adults who violated positions of power and trust. 1860) approximately one in six boys experiences direct sexual contact with an adult or older child by age sixteen (Urquiza and Keating, 1990 Lisak, Hopper, and Song, 1996). But, as Holmes and Slap (1998) conclude, "the sexual abuse of boys is common, underreported, underrecognized, and undertreated" (p. While most writers acknowledge that boys are also subject to sexual abuse, the focus on women has misleadingly implied that the occurrence of sexual abuse among boys is rare. In the outpouring of books and papers on childhood sexual abuse that have appeared since 1980, the emphasis has primarily been on sexually abused girls and their reactions to the abuse as women. Both straight and gay boys may consider that the abuse is a sign that they are unmanly and weak. In addition, gay boys may fear that their orientation derives from their sexual abuse history. Gay boys may see it as a sexual initiation rather than an abusive exploitation straight boys may understand it as a sign that they are "really" gay. This confuses how a boy processes his victimization, whether he was previously headed for a homosexual or heterosexual orientation. Confusing same-sex victimization with homosexual orientation, many abused boys, and people they talk to about it, understand it as a sign of the victim's or the abuser's homosexuality.
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This paper appeared in the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy (1999), 3:1-33.Ībstract: Sexual abuse of boys by men and older boys has been misunderstood in the professional and lay literatures. About Richard Gartner Practice Media Interviews Appearances Books Articles Links Contact Sexual Victimization of Boys by Men: Meanings and Consequences*