5 Statistics I Didn’t Know
© Next Gen Men 2019
By Jonathon Reed
Trigger warning: Sexual assault, rape
This time of year includes International Men’s Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, as well as Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. With this in mind, we’ve been discussing girls and sexual violence in our youth programs with young adolescent boys.
I have a number of relevant statistics memorized and use them in different ways when engaging the boys in reflection on how misogyny affects our society. Over the last few weeks, however, I’ve come across some new facts:
More than a quarter of male victims of completed rape were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger. Not something I would share with youth, but a tragic fact that I won’t soon forget.
Men are more likely to be the victim of sexual assault than the victim of a false accusation. A sobering way to respond to the Trump-responding-to-Kavanaugh narrative about this being ‘a very scary time for young men.’
False reports of sexual assault occur at same rate for other crimes. A less provocative but similarly disarming way to think about false accusations (it’s 2%, by the way— not high by any means).
Women make up only 17 percent of crowd scenes in popular films. A simple way to analyze the representation of women in movies.
Self-inflicted injuries account for three-quarters of gun deaths in Canada. A different way to think about the intersections of mental health and gun violence, and the deeper implications of male violence.
These statistics resonated with me in different ways and caused me to think differently about some of the topics that we discuss in our programs. I hope they do the same for you.
Written by Next Gen Men Program Manager Jonathon Reed as part of Learnings & Unlearnings, a weekly newsletter reflecting on our experiences working with boys and young men. Subscribe to get Learnings & Unlearnings delivered to your email inbox.