For a male sexual assault survivor, justice won in court does not equal healing: ‘exhausting, horrifying journey’

It took eight years and the #MeToo movement for Sam Schultz to make a police report, and another five years for his attackers to plead guilty

Four of five men who reported assaults regretted doing so, research shows, saying police were often disinterested and that the process just added more trauma

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Silhouette of depressed man. Four of five men who reported assaults regretted doing so, saying that police were often unsympathetic and disinterested and that the process just added more trauma. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00am, 4 Dec 2023

When Sam Schultz was sexually assaulted, it felt like a part of him died.

It took eight years and the burgeoning #MeToo movement to spur him to go public and make a police report, and an additional five years for his attackers to plead guilty.

Now, as much as Schultz hopes there is a reckoning coming in gay and queer communities, too, it feels like they are the one shouldering the blame, not the attackers. Instead of being able to focus on recovery, Schultz has been saddled with worries from other gay men that talking about sexual abuse in their community will hurt the fight for LBGTQ rights.

The pain of the assault and ensuing public attention and court proceedings have taken a huge toll.

“It is an exhausting and horrifying journey that I almost quit because it just takes way too much of a person,” Schultz said. “And to any person who has pursued justice and quit along the way, I get it. The system is not built for us. The system is built to protect certain people.”

As many as 95 per cent of male sexual violations go unreported, according to research cited in a review of scientific literature about male victims of sexual assault, published in April in the journal Behavioral Sciences. Four of five men who reported assaults regretted doing so, saying that police were often unsympathetic and disinterested and that the process just added more trauma.

The system is not built for us. The system is built to protect certain people

Sam Schultz, sexual assault victim

Men may fail to report sexual assault because of stigma, shame, guilt and embarrassment; fear of not being believed; privacy concerns; and worries that their sexual orientation or masculinity will be questioned, according to research cited in the article.