Barriers to and facilitators of self-disclosure by male victims of child sexual abuse: a rapid review

Rachelle Snyman, Sufran Smith and Karlien Van Schalkwyk

Children and Youth Services Review, 2025, vol. 172, issue C

Abstract: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a prevalent, enduring social and health problem with global ramifications. Male victims have difficulty disclosing their abuse due to traditional gender norms and associated fears. Understanding the factors that inhibit and facilitate disclosure of CSA among male victims is crucial for enhancing access to gender-specific services. To our knowledge, there are no existing review studies specifically examining the factors that inhibit and facilitate the disclosure of CSA among male victims. This study employs a rapid review methodology to synthesise literature on barriers and facilitators of self-disclosure among male CSA victims. Extensive searches were conducted investigating CSA and the associated disclosure processes encountered by male victims. These searches were carried out using the search engine “OneSearch”. An integrative review approach was used to thematically analyse the empirical data extracted from a selection of qualitative and quantitative studies. The data were synthesized using the socio-ecological model of disclosure, which provides a comprehensive framework to understand the multifactorial influences on male CSA disclosure. Fifteen studies met the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings underscore the significance of increasing awareness regarding male victims of CSA and emphasise the need to re-evaluate societal norms and challenging prevailing gender expectations. The study highlights that disclosure is shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and broader societal, cultural, and environmental factors. These interconnected influences contribute to the complexity of male CSA disclosure and emphasize the necessity for targeted interventions and continued research. The study identifies important practical implications for practice and future research.

Keywords: Child sexual abuse; Barriers; Facilitators; Self-disclosure; Male victims (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740925001550
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925001550

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108272

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().