Our History

1in6 was founded in 2007, and our website was created in 2010, in response to a lack of resources addressing the impact of negative childhood sexual experiences on the lives of adult men, one of many under-recognized aspects of childhood sexual abuse. In 2016, we expanded our mission to include men who experienced sexual assault as adults. In 2024, we merged with our parent company, Zero Abuse Project, a 501(c)(3) organization committed to transforming institutions in order to effectively prevent, recognize, and respond to child sexual abuse.

Key Information and Services

We offer a wide range of information and services for men with histories of unwanted or abusive sexual experiences, and anyone who cares about them. Some of our resources include:

Free and confidential weekly online support groups for men who have experienced sexual abuse or assault.
A wealth of useful information on topics related to male sexual abuse and assault, including answers to common questions.
Trauma-informed trainings and webinars for service providers and organizations around the world.
Male survivor stories, a collection of portraits, videos, and written narratives of male survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Cultural Responsiveness and Inclusivity

Importance of intersectionality with regard to men and their experiences of sexual trauma

Research tells us that that any effective healing process must both honor and occur within the multiple contexts of each man’s life. At 1in6, we continue to ask, “How do some facts about male sexual abuse and assault highlight intersectionality? And why is this important in the overall efforts to raise awareness and improve resources for male survivors?”

Different healing disciplines understand intersectionality as the basis for meaningful resources for survivors of gender-based violence. The social work lens, for instance, considers the “person in environment.” How a person experiences their world based on gender, ability, aboriginal status, faith, race, and governing policies has a lot to do with risk of violence and opportunities to heal.

History has determined that “the political is personal.” Historically, we know that the intersection of policy and poverty is the largest contributor to lowered protective factors (prevention) and barriers to healing (response) for people of all communities. Very simply, these intersections increase not only the likelihood that a boy or man will be abused, but also the likelihood that he can engage in help-seeking efforts.

How our responsiveness is represented in our work at 1in6 and beyond

Unwanted and abusive sexual experiences affect men across categories defined by race, class, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, gender expression, culture, religion, and other characteristics and traits. Many of the impacts of sexual trauma tend to be consistent for most men, regardless of their complex and varied individual characteristics. However, the influences of a person’s ethnic or racial background can have a profound influence on how that sexual trauma manifests itself and how a person reacts and heals.

Our efforts to be inclusive of all men are informed by the guiding philosophy that men’s experiences with sexual trauma are impacted by their varied cultural identities. Each page on this website, our programs, and our services are developed keeping in mind the voices and experiences of disenfranchised communities. We strive to understand the nuances of race, ethnicity, and other cultural identities and their effects on male survivor’s efforts to heal. As such, in all areas of our awareness and engagement programs, we seek to honor and address the particular needs of racially and ethnically diverse cultures; to better understand their unique dynamics; and to identify what resources 1in6 can add to support the healing and recovery of these men in order to ensure that valid, relevant, and meaningful programming is available to all men and their loved ones.

Trauma response narratives

Trauma response narratives for men within intersections are often consistent, regardless of their background. However, how these narratives manifest or present can be affected by a variety of social, cultural, and personal influences. Responses to trauma vary even if we see commonalities clinically; the social environment plays a large role in that. At 1in6, we aim to acknowledge and address the influences that may serve as barriers to healing for men, including:

Cultural prohibitions against disclosing secrets; socialized expectations about men and emotional; rejection or threat of rejection by family or community; isolation or lack of an effective support network; prior negative experiences with helping/safety systems; varying physical or developmental abilities; mental health challenges; addictions/dysregulations; violence, incarceration, or criminal record; poverty or economic instability; and racism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.

How You Can Help

We invite you to join our efforts to bring to light this important part of the discussion around men who have experienced sexual abuse or assault. Whether on campus, at work, or on social media, you can help us to inform and be informed. You can join us in unpacking constructed norms to the betterment of male sexual trauma survivors of every background by:

- Address limiting gender roles and their expressions within the context of prevention and response resources for boys and men.
- Consider how you silently communicate myths about gender roles and male survivors to your children and families. Are you just as concerned about your son walking alone in the neighborhood? Do you create spaces for your son to express a full range of emotions, including crying, fear, and grief, without violence?
- Be curious of your own language and expectations of men. A useful tool is to consider, “How is this useful in creating a safe space for boys and men to disclose and seek help?”
- Service providers: Do your organizational policies include boys and men as part of the overall prevention and response efforts? Do you have men on staff? Are your brochures, offices, and language inclusive of the male survivor experience?

1in6 is committed to helping create and support safe and meaningful resources that are inclusive of all aspects of individual men’s lives. As the demand grows, 1in6 will continue to invest in additional resources to assure that our services are accessible to every community. We invite you to send your suggestions and resources to [email protected].

Permissions

Please obtain permission from 1in6 to quote from or reuse materials found in our website or newsletter. Permission is required even if you do not intend to charge for the use of the material. There is no set number of words or lines that may be used without our written permission. If you are not sure, it is best to request permission anyway. Permission must be requested before you use the material.

If the material in the 1in6 title is labeled “reprinted,” “reused with permission,” or “adapted from,” it means that we do not control the rights to the material, and you are advised to contact the cited source directly.

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For use in a book: include the publisher’s name, title of the book in which the excerpt will appear, the estimated print run, estimated length of the book, estimated cost of the book, and the languages rights you are requesting. We also need a description of the territory over which your use will be distributed.

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We charge reasonable fees depending on the nature of the use. If you feel there is a reason that you should not be charged, please include that information with your request. If your request falls under the guidelines of Fair Use, there will be no charge. The 1in6 name must be properly cited in all cases, whether it is deemed fair use or not.