Ally Fogg pointed it out earlier this week, in all the reports of the abuse ring in Oxfordshire, none of the 50 boys who were included as victims were mentioned at all. Recently, I read an article about rescuing sex trafficking victims and noticed that the authors of the article used the terms “Children” and “girls” interchangeably, as if there were no such thing as a male victim of sex trafficking.
But we know that isn’t true. We just don’t care. It’s tragic when a female child is raped, assaulted, or otherwise has sex forced upon them, but for males, it just doesn’t fit the narrative so it’s easier to just ignore that.
That doesn’t do anyone, male or female, any good. It only perpetuates the myth that a girl who is forced to lose her virtue, is ruined for life, and boys aren’t really harmed by sexual activity because we all know they enjoy it anyway.
Neither one of these is true. I have known many female survivors who are anything but ruined, they are strong, loving women capable of so much. I have also seen the devastation to growing boys who are forced to endure forced sexual activity and what that does to their fragile, young, psyche.
Can we all just admit that sexual abuse of boys and girls is a horrific crime and let it be? Why do we have to draw attention to the female victims only in an effort to gain more attention and sympathy? Are male victims not worthy of it as well?