Sons and Others

In the UK, around one in six men will experience some form of sexual violence. Many of these men who experience sexual abuse are dismissed, only brought up as the butt of a joke, an exception to the rule or, perhaps at worst, are used as a rhetorical tool against female victims. Conversations on sexual violence have understandably focused on women's voices and experiences, with data indicating that women are still the majority of victims and not enough is being done to prevent this violence. As most perpetrators of this violence against women are men, it becomes almost easy to mistake that male survivors stories are exceptions or irrelevances. The fact is that we share a world and our experiences are closely interwoven. Sons and Others challenges misconceptions and misrepresentations of sexual violence against men across media and society and offers a new way of seeing and understanding these men in our lives, asking how the violence they experience affects us all.

Tanaka Mhishi is a writer, performer and storyteller. His works with issues surrounding masculinity and trauma have been produced on screen for BBC 3 and on stages nationwide. He is the author of This Is How It Happens, a play about male survivors of sexual violence, and Boys Don't . Tanaka is a trustee for SurvivorsUK, a charity supporting male and non-binary survivors of sexual violence across the UK.