Men are significantly more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than previously believed, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers analyzed sexual victimization data from five federal surveys conducted between 2010 and 2012 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
They found a high prevalence of sexual victimization among men, “in many circumstances similar to the prevalence found among women.”
In particular, last year's National Crime Victimization Survey — which questioned 40,000 households about various experiences with crime and criminal justice — reported that 38 percent of sexual violence victims were male.
The authors of the study “identified factors that perpetuate misperceptions about men's sexual victimization: reliance on traditional gender stereotypes, outdated and inconsistent definitions, and methodological sampling biases that exclude inmates.”
Until 2010, the FBI's definition of forcible rape specified females as the victims and most federal studies don't include prisons and jails, where sexual assault is prevalent.
The full study is available for purchase HERE.