The process of iden­ti­fy­ing a male vic­tim of child sex­u­al abuse and exploita­tion (CSEA) is dif­fi­cult for both the sur­vivor and front­line professionals.

 

 

 

This study uncov­ers and iden­ti­fies the social inter­ac­tions that harm and aid male sur­vivor recov­ery and heal­ing, as well as fur­ther explor­ing the bar­ri­ers that hin­der dis­clo­sure. In addi­tion, it iden­ti­fies sev­er­al indi­ca­tors and long-term con­se­quences of child sex­u­al abuse and exploita­tion seen with­in male chil­dren and in adult­hood. This study also explores var­i­ous modus operan­di of male vic­tim­iza­tion from the start­ing age of their first instance of abuse and length of abuse for male victims.

 

 

Fur­ther­more, it dis­cuss­es the method­olo­gies which dri­ve cyber-enabled CSEA and the cre­ation of online child sex­u­al abuse mate­ri­als (CSAM). This research high­lights the impor­tance of trau­ma-informed train­ing, per­son­al reflec­tion on poten­tial bias­es that could harm male sur­vivors, and the impor­tance of increas­ing front­line ser­vice providers’ knowl­edge on male sex­u­al vio­lence symp­to­mol­o­gy, to bet­ter sup­port male vic­tims and sur­vivors towards post-trau­mat­ic growth and healing.