The only support service in the country for male sexual abuse victims could be forced to close.
The National Male Survivor Helpline (NMSH) is funded entirely by the government but the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is to end the £250,000-a-year it has received since 2016.
Service users have said the NMSH, which is operated by Safeline, has been a “lifeline” for many victims of abuse.
The MoJ said its Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line (RSASL) was available to offer free, confidential help to all survivors aged 16 and over.
‘They completely understood’
A person who used the service from the North West told the they feared male victims would be less likely to use RSASL because all the phonelines were staffed by women only.
“I was abused by a female, the last person I want to speak to about that experience is a woman,” he said.
“It is very important that the user can choose the gender of the person they speak to.”
The client said he was abused between the ages of eight and 18 and suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result.
“PTSD is cumulative, so every time something happens I get triggered, it gets worse,” he said.
“I would see someone the same build as the person who abused me and it would trigger me, it got to the point where I was hardly leaving the house.”
He said he spent many years trying to get help before he found Safeline’s NMSH.
“I tried everything, I self-referred through the NHS and it was a 48-week wait,” he said.
“I was given cognitive behavioural therapy and sent to group sessions, but this isn’t something you can talk about in a group of strangers.”
He said he came across NMSH while researching treatment options and was amazed how quickly it was able to help.
He said “within a matter of weeks” he had been referred for therapy and went on to receive frequent counselling sessions.
“It was just totally different, they completely understood. I wasn’t expecting much given my history with other services, and it didn’t cost me a penny.
“£250,000 is nothing when you consider what they are doing for people. I’m amazed they managed to help me so much on a tiny budget.”
PA MediaIn the last year, the helpline has supported 2,000 men across England and Wales. Sixteen per cent of those were based in the North West, the second highest volume of users after London (18%).
Liz Harrison, Head of National Helpline and Online Services at Safeline, says there will be “tragic consequences” if the NMSH is forced to close.
“Male survivors will go unsupported and lives will be lost,” she said.
Ms Harrison said the cuts came after the helpline saw an increase in young men and boys coming forward.
“If you can encourage survivors to seek support as soon as they can it helps to reduce the long term impacts of abuse,” she said.
The MoJ said its gender-neutral 24/7 rape crisis line was a suitable alternative to Safeline.
Ms Harrison echoed survivors’ concerns about it being staffed only by women.
“The way men and women talk about the abuse they’ve experienced is completely different,” she said.
“Women don’t tend to talk about the actual abuse itself whereas men will talk very matter-of-factly about it, which means they can be quite graphic.
“This can lead to them being turned away from the service or even banned.”
‘Just feels wrong’
John, not his real name, is based in Greater Manchester and has worked for the service for nine years.
He said he did not know what to expect when his team was called into a meeting in the middle of December, but that the service being closed was “the worst possible” outcome.
“I went through different phases or being sad, angry, confused that something like this could be taken away,” he said.
“I’m surprised by how much I consider it to be part of my identity, it’s never felt like a job to me.
“The idea that we spent eight years developing the service to this point for it to be taken away so swiftly just doesn’t feel right. We’ve worked so hard to get it to this point.”
John said he was worried the knowledge the team had built over the last nine years would be lost if the service was forced to close.
“We built the service up from scratch so everyone is so knowledgeable about male survivors,” he said.
“There is nowhere for us to take that knowledge, the government service won’t employ men so we can’t even share it with them.
“It just feels like we are being forced to take steps back when we feel like we can and should be moving forward.
“The helplessness of having a service taken out of our hands when we know there is a valid reason we are doing it. It just feels wrong.”
‘So many suffering’
The client said he was worried for people who would not be able to access the help he had if the service closed.
“If people can’t get help to deal with it they just put it in box in their mind where it just sits and rots. Then they spend the rest of their lives wondering why they feel the way they do, why they need to drink so much or why they take drugs,” he said.
“This is a situation that affects possibly millions of men, there are so many people suffering.
“Imagine how many males are going through the same as me who now won’t be able to get the help I was given.”
The MoJ said it “recognises the vital role that organisations like Safeline play in supporting victims of sexual abuse”.
“This government inherited a criminal justice system under immense pressure and must make difficult decisions to ensure we can deliver the justice victims deserve,” an MoJ spokesperson said.
But the client said men “get so few opportunities for help”, he could not understand why the government would take the service away.
“Safeline is my lifeline,” he said.
“It just makes you think, society still doesn’t care about men who have been abused.
“Without the specialist help and support I have had from the helpline over the past three years and just knowing they were there for me at the end of the phone, I might not have survived.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the ‘s Action Line.
