Menns opplevelse av å bli utsatt for seksuelt overgrep i voksen alder - En kvalitativ metasyntese
Sammanfattning
Adult male victims of sexual abuse are a neglected group. To shed light on their experience we have performed a qualitative meta-synthesis to identify recurring themes in the men’s narratives. The results were sorted into six categories: “stolen masculinity - if I’m not a man, what am I?”, “desperate chase for stolen masculinity”, “trapped in masculinity”, “sexual and relational difficulties”, “how could I let it happen?” and “betrayed by the body”. Attitudes towards masculinity and prejudice against victims of sexual abuse seem to strongly affect male victims’ subjective experience. They feel demasculated and do not seek necessary help in fear of being exposed as a lesser man. Many experience confusion regarding their bodily reactions during the assault and are often relationally and sexually challenged in the aftermath of sexual abuse. We conclude that the men have internalised gender role norms and rape myths, and that this presents an additional challenge after sexual abuse.