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Editor's Note: This article is part of a special report on sexual assault in Cape Breton, N.S.

SYDNEY, N.S. - Robert S. Wright has worked with male victims of sexual violence through out his 30-year career.

The creator of ManTalk, a support group for male identifying victims of sexual assault, Wright has also worked with men who’ve been perpetrators of sexual assault against a male — most of those, victims of trauma themselves.

Based in Halifax, the group is a support group for men aged 19 and over who have been sexually assaulted. Meeting twice a month, ManTalk is open to all male identifying people as well as all cultures.

A member of CPATH, a national organization of professionals working in support of wellness, health and dignity of gender diversity and transgender rights, Wright started ManTalk to help fill a gap in services for male victims of sexual assault.

“We are pretty singular in what we do,” said the former director of child welfare for Cumberland County.

“If you think about it, where are the resources? There are limited resources for men. And these spaces available for men, aren’t necessarily always accepting (or perceived as accepting) to trans men.”

In Halifax, New Start is another group helping male victims of sexual assault. Started in 1974 to provide counselling for men who were perpetrators of domestic violence, they now offer programming for males victims of sexual assault as well as healthy relationship counselling.

In Cape Breton, there’s nothing male specific. Across the province, the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program works with victims of recent assaults, where the attack happened within the last five days. SANE nurses do followup calls, with the victim’s consent, but the last one is two weeks after the assault and the program doesn’t provide counselling.

Because of the limited services available in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality specifically for male victims of sexual assault, Cape Breton Transition House provides off-site counselling and trauma recovery support to men who reach out.

Terrence Rochon is project co-ordinator for CornerStone, and organization that does family and relationship counselling and, like New Start, works with perpetrators of intimate partner violence.

Many of the men he works with have been victims of trauma themselves, with nowhere to turn for help.

“I would like to see dedicated services for men in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. We certainly have a lot of men here who are victims of domestic violence, and there’s no resource like a transition house for them,” he said.

“People have said to me, 'We don’t have them because we don’t need them.' Looking at statistics, it shows that self-reporting (anonymously) being a victim a domestic violence, is the same between men and women. That shows there is a need for them. We need to be doing our part for our men.”

"Well, guess what my friend — that was not your first sexual experience. That was victimization." — Robert S. Wright, ManTalk creator

Statistics Canada reports one in six men are victims of sexual assault yearly, which is half as many women who are. Wright said he and other people working in the field believe this number is much higher, especially for men who are known to underreport crimes of victimization.

Part of the problem of underreporting stems from the societal belief, “men can’t be raped by women”, a stereotype still held by some today.

This causes male victims of female perpetrators to fear they won’t be believed, they’ll be ridiculed if they speak out (which sometimes happens) and they’ll be told they men are always ready and willing.

This stereotype that men must always be up for sexual encounters is one that Wright said also creates confusion in male victim — was that assault or just a knotch on the belt?

Wright used the example of a video of rapper Lil Wayne talking about his first sexual encounter at age 13, where he describes himself being sexually assaulted by an older teenage girl and loving it.

“(As a male) even if you know what to call it, you know to talk about it as if you desired it,” Wright said.

“Some men don’t understand their first sexual experiences were actually assault. That older babysitter who (performed a sexual act on you)? "Well, guess what my friend — that was not your first sexual experience. That was victimization.”

Although resources are limited in Cape Breton, male victims of trauma can reach out to the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s mental health department to inquire about counselling options. There is also the Cape Breton Youth Project for anyone up to age 25 who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community. And schools throughout the island have on-site guidance counsellors and Schools Plus staff who can help any student who is a victim of trauma, including sexual assault.

Resources for male victims of sexual assault - Cape Breton

SANE : 1-844-858-8036

: 1-844-858-8036 Cape Breton Transition House : 902-539-2945

: 902-539-2945 NSHA Mental Health Crisis Line: 1-888-429-8167

Resources for male victims of sexual assault - Halifax

ManTalk : 902-832-1593

: 902-832-1593 New Start: 902-423-4657

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