More and more men who have suffered sexual assault are seeking help in Quebec. Among the three organizations that specialize solely in supporting this clientele, the number of requests jumped by 70% from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024, we learned. The duty.
The victims’ voices have become more free thanks to waves of media denunciations, according to those in charge of these centers, so much so that more men are daring to break the silence and call for help. But organizations find themselves overwhelmed and some worry that the delays in accessing their services are increasing.
Currently, men who contact CRIPHASE (Resource and intervention center for men sexually abused in their childhood), in Montreal, have to wait an average of six months before receiving services, laments the general director, Martine Poirier. “When you tell a victim who has started talking to pack everything up and wait six months, they may pack it all in tight. The person will perhaps skip their turn and only come back in two or three years. »
Located on Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, the organization’s premises resemble a cozy apartment, with its intimate rooms, armchairs and blue walls decorated with paintings. Here, Montrealers come to break the silence during individual or group follow-ups carried out with psychosocial workers.
In Quebec, men can knock on different doors to get support: assistance centers for victims of crime (CAVAC) and assistance centers for victims of sexual violence (which help people of all genders and backgrounds). all sexes), or even organizations for men in difficulty. But only three organizations are specifically dedicated to male victims of sexual assault: CRIPHASE, SHASE (Support for sexually assaulted men Estrie), in Sherbrooke, and EMPHASE (Entraide Mauricie–Centre-du-Québec for sexually assaulted men in childhood), which has a head office located in Trois-Rivières and four satellite offices in the area.
These three centers received a total of 474 requests for assistance in 2023-2024, compared to 279 in 2019-2020. The increase was particularly marked at EMPHASE, which saw its number of requests for assistance quadruple during this same period, from 42 to 168.
These figures cannot be explained by an increase in violence, according to Samuel Dussault, director of the Regroupement des organizations québécois pour les hommes molestés (ROQHAS). Rather, it is a sign that victims are more willing than before to open up about what they experienced, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, launched in 2017, and other public speaking engagements on this subject. .
Data from the Ministry of Public Security, relayed by the Institute of Statistics of Quebec, confirm this trend: from 2016 to 2022, the number of victims of sexual offenses declared by the police increased by 97% among women, and 68% among men.
“The taboo within the taboo”
Sexual assault nevertheless remains one of the crimes most often kept silent.
And although there are fewer of them experiencing this type of violence, men would be even more hesitant to denounce it, due to the education they have received, observes Marie-Christine Villeneuve, communications and public relations coordinator. of the CAVAC network. “Prejudices are still conveyed in society, for example that men must be able to defend themselves or that they never refuse sexual intercourse because they have a lot of desire. »
Sexual assault among men is “the taboo within the taboo”, summarizes Martine Poirier.
New generations are perhaps less inclined to keep silent about this type of trauma, however, observes the director of SHASE, Alexandre Tremblay-Roy. The average age of people who frequent his organization has decreased in recent years, going from 55 to 40 years old. “We have more and more young adults who are at university and who come to seek help. »
The fact remains that men generally wait between 20 and 30 years, he says, before seeking services for the sexual violence they have suffered.
This is the case of André, a 68-year-old retired police officer, who took three decades before contacting an organization about the attack he experienced at the age of 13. “I hadn’t told anyone about it, for fear of not being believed. »
Joking and charismatic, he begins to speak more slowly when he talks about his years as a resident in a college run by religious people. One night, he woke up and caught one of the brothers, who acted as his guardian at the boarding school, removing his hand from his genitals under his pajamas. In the early morning, two buttons of his usually very durable pants were undone. “It confirmed that something had happened. »
For a long time, André numbed his discomfort with beer. However, he proudly emphasizes that he has not drunk for 26 years, “thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous”. Two years ago, he decided to continue his journey by asking for help from CRIPHASE. The ex-police officer now practices art therapy there, which he loves. “It’s liberating to understand all the harm that sexual assault has done to me. You can’t deal with this type of anger alone. It’s impossible. It’s too heavy. »
Now this nature lover takes care of himself. “My quality of life is important to me. I have no time to waste, because I am in my last third of life,” confides the man who will set off on the path to Santiago de Compostela next September.
Lack of funding criticized
At CRIPHASE, Martine Poirier is sad to have only around ten speakers to support all Montrealers who, like André, need it. “The number of speakers will go with my funding. If I do not have [plus] financing, I cannot commit any. We want to serve more people,” she maintains, sighing.
“Our budget envelope is really not huge,” adds the director of EMPHASE, Karine Vallières. She also hopes to have the means to keep open the new service points that she recently set up in Victoriaville, Drummondville, Shawinigan and La Tuque.
In addition to increasing funding for organizations, Quebec should launch awareness campaigns that directly and only target male victims of sexual violence, believes Samuel Dussault, director of ROQHAS. “This would allow many men to recognize their experience as sexual assault. »
Contacted by The dutythe Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) affirms, in a written response, to be “very sensitive to the situation of men victims of sexual violence and to be keen to offer them adequate support, in particular through its commitment to “development and implementation of the Integrated Government Strategy to Counter Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence and Rebuilding Trust 2022-2027”.
“In 2023-2024, the MSSS paid more than $28 million for all organizations working in sexual violence, including several working with male victims,” specifies the ministry. He adds that for the year 2024-2025, an amount of nearly $1.9 million has already been granted to support “services for perpetrators of sexual violence and for male victims of sexual assault.”
Reconnect with yourself
Asking for help has changed the lives of many men who have been victims of sexual violence.
This is what happened to Martin. The 49-year-old man has come a long way. He says he had serious after-effects after being sexually assaulted during his childhood by a cousin. ” I have some blackout. When he abused me, it was automatic, I left my body. »
Last December, he took his courage in both hands and contacted CRIPHASE. “I was looking at my phone and I wanted to smash it. But I had to do it. My adult head didn’t want it, but the little voice inside me did. » In the space of six months of therapy, he made giant strides. “I stopped using drugs and smoking cigarettes,” he says. I have to give myself what I have to give myself. »
Martin recently reconnected with his childhood passion, singing. “I’m in the process of rediscovering that,” he says, proud of himself, his eyes shining. Smiling, the man adds that he dared to parachute a few weeks ago. “On the video of my jump, you can see my face. It looks like a child opening his eyes for the first time and seeing something beautiful. »