If one in six men are victims of sexual abuse, then why are so few people talking about it? We hear stories of three men: Tanaka, Neil and Alex. Each of them going through the story of why and how the abuse happened; what made them not go report the crime to the police and how each of them had their own way of coming to terms with what happened and just moving o with their life. Alex, after staying silent for many years, has now set up a charity, Stay Brave UK, in a bid to provide a voice for all rape victims - male, female, LGBT and non-binary. Neil's relationship with his partner at the time, Lloyd, crumbled under the pressure of trying to cope with the assault and he turned to drugs, alcohol, fighting as he battled with suicidal thoughts. Tanaka, a student from London, had refused to have unprotected sex with a man who then went on to rape him. He admits in the documentary he felt suicidal afterwards.
The documentary, in my opinion, is to bring awareness that the age old belief that “men were perpetrators not victims” needs to be changed. Men are scared of people finding out, they have their fears and just like women they also need support and a voice to help them. We see how police also co-operates with these guys after years and recommend them what they can do if rape victims do not feel safe to come to the police. I personally was expecting more from the documentary, not sure what though. Sure, we hear 3 men bravely talk about their story, but I felt somewhere this was not powerful enough for people to sympathize with the guys and the story and that in turn makes you the whole case of male rape, taken for granted. But maybe thats my personal option.
To keep things on positive side, in its own quiet way, this documentary will have helped to change that perception that male cannot be victims of sexual abuse (by other males or females). Its value cannot be overstated. (5.5/10)
Comments