KEY MESSAGES
- Sexual violence against children is a traumatic and grave violation of their rights, dignity and safety. It affects both boys and girls - but often in different ways and with different drivers and consequences.
- The issue of sexual violence against boys is too often unrecognised or unseen. Researchers and civil society actors are finding that not enough is known, or done, about it, and there is a notable gap in the global understanding, research, prevention and response to this violence.
- To address this, new efforts of multi-country research are shedding light on the drivers, scale and scope of sexual exploitation involving boys. They find that lack of legislation and support services, poverty, and gender norms about masculinity are putting boys at risk of sexual violence, and keeping them quiet when it happens.
- The powerful voices of survivors, allies, children and advocates are mobilising to combat abuse of boys and girls around the world, with global efforts such as the Brave Movement and End Violence Champions working to end sexual violence against children.
Sexual violence is a prevalent, silent epidemic affecting children across the world. 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 13 boys before the age of 18 today have faced some form of sexual abuse or exploitation.
Despite affecting both girls and boys, sexual violence is a complex, gender-based issue. The numbers, drivers, and consequences of sexual violence against boys and girls can be very different, with distinct impacts on long-term well-being and on our societies.
An unseen epidemic
A host of literature has studied the many forms and ways sexual exploitation and abuse affects women and girls - who are proven to be at a higher risk in most contexts around the world. Juxtaposed with existing gender inequality such as skewed economic opportunities, gender-based societal roles and pratices such as child marriage, the risks that women and girls face make them the most vulnerable to sexual violence. Among children, girls report rates of sexual abuse at least three times higher than boys.
Sexual violence against boys is reported to be less prevalent, but has its own dimensions - occurring at different rates, and in different forms and contexts. And researchers and civil society actors are finding that not enough is known, or done, about it. UNICEF’s review of existing research literature on the subject found that sexual exploitation of boys is all too often unrecognised or unseen. In research as well as in societies, there is a notable gap in the global understanding, research, prevention and support of exploitation of boys.
Building knowledge to end sexual violence - with and for children
To meet the challenge of our limited data and understanding, the research community is recognising and undertaking studies focused on sexual violence against boys.
ECPAT’s Global Boys Initiative is one such effort which has embarked on a series of research projects in 10 countries around the world. Six of these country reports are now out, shedding light on the scale and scope of sexual exploitation that takes place involving boys, how they came into these vulnerable situations, and what their needs are in terms of prevention, protection, and services. Through conversations with survivors as well as the frontline support workers who engage with them, the voices and experiences of boy survivors are being heard and studied.
These studies, along with other new global research efforts, have revealed the many dimensions of CSEA of boys, the drivers of it, and gaps that exist in ending this violence.
Here’s what we are learning about sexual exploitation and abuse of boys:
- Gender roles and norms are putting boys at higher risk - and keeping them quiet. Studies from all contexts, across countries, have shown that problematic beliefs about masculinity, which force boys to be ‘strong’,‘unaffected’, and ‘able to protect themselves’ in the face of violence, are putting boys at risk, keeping them silent about abuse, and heightening their trauma. Even when reported, the implications of sexual assault on boys are neglected or dismissed by society.
“People think that when it happens to boys, it’s just like a punch in the face, nothing serious. They think that a boy will recover quickly.”
- Legislative limitations can be a major hurdle in reporting and addressing sexual violence against boys. For example, Sri Lankan law does not recognise that males can be raped, making support and justice for boys are legally complicated at best, or completely unavailable at worst. Furthermore, in countries like Sri Lanka where homosexuality is crimalised, boys fear being seen as offenders themselves, making them too afraid or unable to seek help from authorities.
- Far fewer services are available for sexually exploited boys in comparison to girls; when services do exist, they have generally not been designed in ways that are boy-friendly, or with the specific needs of boys in mind. There is also some evidence that law enforcement and service providers are less likely to identify boys than girls as victims of sexual exploitation.
- Vulnerablities like poverty, lack of access to education, forced work, displacement place boys at a higher risk of being sexually exploited or abused. ECPAT’s study in Pakistan, for example, where nearly 25% of the population lives in poverty and upwards of 50 percent of boys are not enrolled in secondary education, found that many boys are growing up and working - hawking, begging, scavenging, and other informal work - on the streets, making them much more vulnerable sexual violence.
- Sometimes, these vulnerabilities can lead boys into self-engaging in sexual exploitation or abuse, often by selling sex. In Thailand, where this is prevalent, an overwhelming majority of the young boys indulging in sex-selling came from poverty and were driven by need. Beyond shedding light on economic vulnerabilities, this has implications for our understanding of consent, sexuality, and the complexity of environment when protecting children from sexual violence.
“There is a lack of awareness among parents on the impact of the sexual exploitation of boys. Due to poverty, this is seen as a way of earning money since the boys do not get pregnant.”
- These threats of sexual violence are now translated into the online world, where boys can sometimes be at more grave risk than girls. INTERPOL in 2018 looked into the online sexual exploitation of children, finding that although many online images or videos of child sexual abuse depict girls, when boys are depicted, the abuse is more likely to be more severe.
Breaking the silence and changing mindsets around the world
The research has shown us that we need interventions, national commitments and legislation. But we also urgently need to change mindsets. Norms and perceptions about sexual abuse are keeping children - girls and boys - silent. To truly help them, and to truly bring transformational change in society, this silence needs to be broken.
The good news is that, with growing momentum, the most powerful voices are coming together to end sexual exploitation and abuse of children. Survivors, allies, children and advocates are working to combat abuse of boys and girls around the world.
A new global movement to end child sexual exploitation and abuse - the Brave Movement - is bringing together a powerful group of Survivor Advocates, including those who faced abuse as boys, who are leading the charge for change. They are using their experiences and collective voice to speak out when there is silence and create a world where children and adolescents can grow up free from harm - so that no one has to go through what they have.
The End Violence Partnership’s Together to #ENDviolence Champions are working across levels to end violence against boys and girls. These frontline heroes, who are sometimes survivors of violence themselves, are driving lasting change within communities and countries. These inspiring men and women include those working to end sexual and gender-based violence across continents - from Bolivia and Nigeria, to Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Sexual violence against children is a traumatic and grave violation of their rights, dignity and safety, with long lasting impacts to thier lives and to our societies. In our efforts to achieve a safe, secure and nurturing world for children, the end violence community must continue to strengthen and amplify these movements for change, and catalyse progress to end violence against ALL boys and girls, everywhere.