Sweden opens clinic for male rape victims

A hospital in Stockholm is set to become the first in the country with an emergency department specifically for male rape victims. The clinic at Södersjukhuset is scheduled to open this autumn.

Södersjukhuset already has the largest emergency care unit in the Nordic region and runs a round-the-clock walk-in clinic for women and girls who have been sexually assaulted in the city, treating between 600 and 700 patients a year.

On Wednesday, the hospital announced that from mid-October, it would also admit men and boys as part of a strategy to ensure "gender equal" emergency care for rape victims of both sexes.

In 2014, some 370 cases of sexual assault on men or boys were reported across Sweden, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, although experts believe that the actual figure is much higher.

"The general perception is that men cannot be raped," Lotti Helström, a senior physician at the hospital told Sveriges Radio, adding that male victims can suffer even more than women.

"In studies, the health effects are shown to be greater for men, both in terms of physical health and mental health. There is a greater risk of a raped man getting post-traumatic stress disorder," she said, adding that the subject of male rape remained "extremely taboo".

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From the article:

Last year, a study by gender equality organisation RFSU suggested that in most municipalities across Sweden, men were uncertain where they could get emergency help following a rape.