Sweden Will Soon Get Its First Center For Men Who Have Been Raped

Rape is a crime that is prevalent in many parts of the world. As if the crime is not enough, the rape victims have to live with that scar throughout their lives. The ordeal of getting through that is all the more daunting!

There are many centers for women who have been through this. But men have their equal share of violence too. The world doesn’t acknowledge that fact, but they do. And that is why, for the first time in the world, Sweden has announced a center that caters to the need of raped men. 

Södersjukhuset, the name of the hospital, that already has many sexual women in its unit, is now planning to start a similar unit for raped men. The initiative has been taken in light of gender equality. Last year, in 2014, there were many rape cases and violence reported against men. But the authorities believe that many have not come into the picture.

This is the image of the hospital where this center is about to be opened.

“The general perception is that men cannot be raped,” Lotti Helström, a senior physician at the hospital told Sveriges Radio. He also added that men suffer more than women and because of this perception which is assumed to be a social norm, they don’t come out and speak up.

“In studies, the health effects are shown to be greater for men, both in terms of physical health and mental health. There is a greater risk of a raped man getting post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said. She further added that it can also lead to sexual identity problems in the future. “A clinic focusing on men who have been sexually abused will contribute to the awareness of  experiences of sexual abuse among men and make it more possible to meet men’s needs in a very exposed situation.”

The point worth mentioning is that Sweden has a different way of recording the allegations made by the victim i.e if the victim says that he/she was raped for seven consecutive days, the officer would record it as seven potential crimes. And, everywhere across the world, this crime is recorded as one crime.

Even if it’s a first in the world, this initiative is really commendable. A great initiative, Sweden!! 🙂

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