"I think we’re doing an abominable job of listening to men and boys who have been raped."

"When we notice their existence at all — which is a rare thing — we’re extremely prone to talk over them and to redefine their experience for them. We need more research that’s victim-centered. Our current understanding of what that experience involves is obtained from the crudest possible stereotypes, principally Hollywood films like 'Deliverance' or 'The Shawshank Redemption.' It’s not merely because men and boys are not speaking about it. The question worth asking is: What needs to be done that would make them feel safe in disclosing their experience? Second, we need somewhere for men and boys to go when this has happened to them.... Third, we need an integrated approach to the whole problem of sexual violence.... We can talk about the gendered aspects certainly, but in my view, the fight against sexual violence in all its aspects is a single fight that ought to unite people of all genders and sexual orientations. The basic elements are fundamentally the same."

Said Raymond M. Douglas, author of “On Being Raped.” Douglas, who is now a history professor at Colgate University, was raped by his parish priest 30+ years ago when he was 18.