Sexual assault can have an extremely damaging and traumatic effect on a man, especially on a young, vulnerable man with limited life experience and skills at setting boundaries.

Something everyone should remember is that women, just like men, can have personality disorders, like narcissistic or borderline personality disorder, that make them extremely manipulative and toxic.

When a man who has one of these disorders is in a relationship with a woman and she experiences psychological /sexual abuse (manipulation / blaming/ shaming/ pressure to have sex / pressure to take care of the other person over themselves) she is likely to get immediate support once she starts talking about her experiences. And she will be able to talk about it because everyone knows that men sometimes manipulate and pressure women to have sex.

However, if a man is in that same situation, he is in a relationship with a woman who has one of these disorders, he may have a very difficult time even recognizing / realizing that he is being abused. He also may not have the vocabulary to talk with friends, family, or therapist about what's happening. Because men are supposed to want sex all the time. If you want sex all the time, how can you be seen as a victim if you are shamed / blamed, pressured and manipulated into having sex?

These kinds of toxic experiences can be deeply traumatic, can cause PTSD, and result in severe depression, shame, loss of self-worth, etc. This is true for male survivors as well as female. We need to understand that men can be harmed, seriously harmed. They can be harmed in the same ways that women can. But because our society views vulnerability, fragility, and the capacity to be harmed as unmanly, even seeing or understanding that this kind of harm is happening to them is very difficult for men, much less talking about it and trying to get help.