Need support now? If you or a child is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000). If you need to talk to someone, Lifeline (13 11 14), 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and the Blue Knot Helpline (1300 657 380) are there for you.
Left Write Hook is not a crisis or support service. For more services, visit our Get support page.
Male survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Content note: This page talks about childhood sexual abuse and its impacts. It is not graphic, but it may be distressing. Please take care of yourself while reading, and step away whenever you need to. The Quick Exit bar at the bottom of this site will close this page at any time.
Almost 1 in 5 boys in Australia experience childhood sexual abuse. The ABS estimates that 343,500 adult men living in Australia experienced sexual abuse by an adult before the age of 15. Behind these numbers are hundreds of thousands of men, many of whom have never told anyone.
Why men often stay silent longer
Survivors take an average of 23.9 years to tell someone about childhood sexual abuse, and men often take longer to disclose than women. The Royal Commission found the average time to disclosure was 25.6 years for males, and some men never disclose at all. Shame, stigma, expectations around masculinity, fear of not being believed, and harmful myths about male victims all make it harder for men to speak.
None of this changes the truth: what happened was never your fault, and you deserve support.
Myths that keep men silent
"Men can't be victims"
False. Almost 1 in 5 Australian boys experience childhood sexual abuse. Being a victim of abuse says nothing about a man's strength, masculinity or worth. It says everything about the person who chose to harm a child.
"It doesn't affect men as much"
False. Like all survivors, men can carry serious impacts across their physical health, mental health, relationships and work, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression. Men are also less likely to be asked and less likely to seek help, which can mean carrying those impacts alone for longer.
"Abused boys grow up to become abusers"
False, and one of the most damaging myths of all. The vast majority of survivors never harm anyone. This myth adds a layer of unearned shame and fear that keeps men silent, and it has no place in how we talk about survivors.
"If his body responded, it wasn't really abuse"
False. Physical responses are automatic and involuntary. They do not mean consent, and they do not make the abuse any less real or any less wrong.
The impacts are real, and so is recovery
Men who experienced childhood sexual abuse can carry impacts across every part of life, and these are normal responses to trauma, not weakness. People can and do recover, and support designed for survivors makes a difference. Reaching out is not an admission of weakness. It is one of the strongest things a person can do.
Support for male survivors
The services on our Get support page welcome survivors of all genders, including the Blue Knot Helpline (1300 657 380), Lifeline (13 11 14) and 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). MensLine Australia (1300 78 99 78) offers 24/7 phone and online counselling for men. The National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse also publishes practical guidance on supporting boys and men to disclose child sexual abuse, useful for the partners, family and friends of male survivors as well.
Left Write Hook men's programs
Left Write Hook's flagship program was designed for female and gender diverse survivors, and we have now begun adapting it for men. Our first men's pilot ran in late 2025 as part of a formal research project with University of Melbourne researchers, with a focus on agency, connection, shame reduction and safer ways for men to hold rage and grief. The pilot was designed as a co-learning space where men are seen as survivor-advocates, and engagement was strong, with new expressions of interest arriving every week. A men's program is coming to Frankston, and the insights from this work will inform how men are engaged in prevention, healing and leadership into the future.
"I wasn't sure whether Left Write Hook would work for men in the same way. And what surprised me is that it has. These men are hungry to heal. And they're hungry to connect with themselves."
- Dr Donna Lyon, Founder and CEO
If you are a male survivor interested in a writing and non-contact boxing program near you, register your interest and we will let you know when a men's program is coming to your area.
Sources: Australian Child Maltreatment Study; ABS Personal Safety Survey 2021-22; Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (average disclosure times by gender); Left Write Hook film site Resources (barriers to disclosure for males); National Centre practice tool, Supporting boys and men to disclose child sexual abuse; LWH Case for Support pack (men's pilot program).