The tone of the coverage of the Reynhard Sinaga case. *Title edited by MNHQ*

[Dogsaresomucheasier]

Just watching tonight’s news. I do not wish to minimise the trauma suffered by the victims of Reynhard Sinaga, but I’m really struggling with the reporting of the case; even from female journalists. It seems so full of empathy and gravitas, when so many female victims go unheard.

No, men are not lesser victims, as individuals they are equal victims. Yes, I’m delighted that justice has been served, but I’m not happy that so many women have similar experiences and do not get this level of justice or empathetic media coverage of the trauma that they experienced

Totally agree

Men (and it is believed mainly heterosexual men) are drugged and raped and now we are taking about this drug - there have been many many women who have been drugged and raped yet it happens to men and now changes have to be made

I would like to believe if the victims were women or gay men the response would be the same but sadly I know it wouldn’t be

So if a small group of women received this kind of coverage that would somehow make it ok for the ones that don’t?

Of course there have been appeals for further (female) victims to come forwards! You really are trying to find inequality where there isn't necessarily any. Do you study news reports of every rape and compare the wording and how empathetic each news reporter is while delivering it?

Given the torches that have been lit by the media under the teenager who was raped by multiple assaulters in Cyprus I think it's fair to say that rape against females and rape against males is regarded rather differently. See also: Rotherham.

Did they show the victims clothing in court and say they were asking for it? Did they say the victims were promiscuous? That there body language implied they were up for it?

Doubtful

I remember a case where the fact that a victim was wearing a thong was seen as consent the fact that he had to rip clothing off to see the thong was ignored

“ It’s the presentation of “rape causes ongoing mental health difficulties affecting every aspect of victims lives” as news that is my biggest problem I think. I have never seen that for a case where the victims are female, it’s assumed to be common sense. I don’t think I’ve seen appeals for further victims to come forward before either.”

—— this sums it up

Your title was completely bizarre though!

It may well be the police have asked for sympathetic reporting to try and get the unidentified people to report in.

I wonder how much police/court/media resources have been utilised on this case and if it’s proportional to the number of victims when compared with women, too.

I think what is worse was that he carried on unhindered for TEN YEARS and was caught only when one of his victims came round part way through and reported it and they managed to get his phone and ONLY then did they discover another 150 cases he had videoed and provided the evidence for them, and they suspect many more - Had any of these men felt able to come forward and report it, did they even know they were victims?

Op, have you ever worked on a rape investigation?

They take men more seriously if a man walks into the station and says he was raped they BELIEVE him

I'm sorry for what has happened rape is awful and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy but I want to be taken seriously I dont want to be asked if I'm sure if I wasnt just regretting it because he was black was my family religious did I know this would effect him FOR THE REST IF HIS LIFE, the man in question was bailed away from his home town awaiting court for raping someone else do I've no idea why the police thought I was lying I'm guessing it's because I'm female

I do find it instructive that the cops launched a full scale investigation into this guy, raiding his house, confiscating his hard drive etc, based on the report of one male victim. This doesn't happen when women report rape.

I also think that there is something really quite nasty lurking behind the reports that tell us repeatedly that "most of the victims were straight". What, like, so if they'd have been gay it would have been more consensual?

Agree with this. The sexuality of the victims is irrelevant and shouldn't have been mentioned. It's like there was a hierarchy of victim with gay men at the bottom and to not tarnish the reputation of straight men with homosexuality. It reminds me a little bit of the reporting of the murder of women in Norwich (I think). It was reported 'a prostitute has been murdered' no, no, no a woman has been murdered.

The fact they coined him “Britain’s worst rapist” on ITV. They should have said something along the lines of ‘one of the worst rapists Britain has ever seen’.

Yes it does. I’ve done it many a time.

I think it is a bit mean spirited to object to how this dreadful case is reported. I can't say I noticed it being any different to other violent crimes but maybe because so many rapes of men go unreported, it stands out more.

You might have done it nicknacky but it is far from typical.

A lot more male rape victims go unnoticed than female ones.

It is very typical.

Slippery beat me to almost the exact comment I was going to make.

I have to say I hadn't initially cottoned on to the fact that this was a rapist of men. I saw the headline and was slightly surprised that the conviction of a rapist was the number one headline on the BBC. Then I learned why. This is purely a comment on the reporting, not on the nature of the crime or its effect on victims..

It’s the presentation of “rape causes ongoing mental health difficulties affecting every aspect of victims lives” as news that is my biggest problem I think. I have never seen that for a case where the victims are female, it’s assumed to be common sense.

Actually, when women are raped they're told to get over it, ime. If they take too long "getting over it", whatever that means precisely, people lose patience. It happens on every thread discussing rape. NAMALT after all.

I don’t think I’ve seen appeals for further victims to come forward before either.

I certainly have.

Did they show the victims clothing in court and say they were asking for it? Did they say the victims were promiscuous? That there body language implied they were up for it?

Doubtful

But that's not a defence that gets used in relation to multiple rapists of women who openly admit to using drugs to subdue their victims either. No sensible barrister would try to argue that a women who his client admitted he had drugged was in some way complicit, not least because it would be sure route to an increased sentence.

Who tells women who are raped to get over it?

The whole report is awful and this man clearly viewed these men as a commodity there for him to use as he pleased. I agree that the male victims are equal to female victims but regardless these are particularly awful circumstances - imagine having no idea you had been raped until the police contacted you. I am aware that this has also happened to women although not on this scale.

What did make me pause is the decision to look it GHB. It’s been enough of an issue to be part of almost all literature aimed at women on keeping safe for as long as I can remember (I’m not young) and apparently this case is the one to make authorities want to review its availability

YANBU for reasons pointed out upthread. Men are taken seriously, women are not.

Men are not judged by their clothing or past relationships.

When a female victim is impregnated as a result of rape they are still judged.

The conviction rate for rape cases against females is depressingly low. Just 1.5 percent of rape cases lead to a charge or summons.