A place for men. A mission for all of us.

The mission of 1in6 is to help men who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences live healthier, happier lives. Our mission also includes serving family members, friends, partners, and service providers by providing information and supportive resources.

1in6 was founded in 2007, and the 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.

We offer helpful information and supportive resources for men with histories of unwanted or abusive sexual experiences, and anyone who cares about them, including:

• Free and anonymous weekly online support groups for men who have experienced sexual abuse or assault.
• Helpful 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.
• Survivor stories told through a powerful collection of portraits, videos, and written narratives from men who have experienced sexual assault or abuse.

Research tells us that any effective healing process must both honor and occur within the multiple contexts of each man’s life. 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, ethnicity, cultural identity, 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, 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. 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.

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 are guided by the philosophy that men’s experiences with sexual trauma are impacted by their varied cultural identities. We strive to understand the nuances of race, ethnicity, and other cultural identities and their effects on male survivors’ efforts to heal. We seek to honor and address the particular needs of racially and ethnically diverse cultures, to better understand their unique dynamics, and to identify appropriate resources for all men and their loved ones.

Trauma response narratives for men within intersections are often consistent, regardless of their background, but 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 in a clinical sense, and the social environment plays a large role in that.

At 1in6, we acknowledge and seek to address the influences that may serve as barriers to healing for men, including: Cultural prohibitions against disclosing secrets; socialized expectations about men and emotions; 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.

You can join our efforts to highlight 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 to inform others and support male survivors of every background:

• 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 about your own language and expectations of men, and how your words contribute to creating a safe space for men and boys to disclose abuse.
• 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 ensure that our services are accessible to every community. We invite you to send your suggestions and resources to 1in6@zeroabuseproject.org.

Please obtain permission from 1in6 to quote directly from or reuse materials found on this website. If the material 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.

For use on a website: Include the URL of the site and whether visitors to the site will be charged to view the excerpted material.

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.

For use in a magazine: Include the circulation and publication date.

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.