Boys Do Cry: Improving the
Identification and
Rehabilitation Strategies for
Male Victims of Sexual Torture
in Mexico
Erika S. Valtierra-Gutierrez
Valeria P. Moscoso-Urzua
Background
• Sexual torture
o
o
o
o
o
o
Forced nudity
Verbal assaults
Groping
Sexually humiliating acts or comments.
Blows or electric shocks to the genitals
Any form of penetration.
• Previous research studies
o Croatia
o Chile
o Mexico (female victims only)
International and domestic criteria
Istanbul Protocol. Manual on the
Effective Investigation and
Documentation of Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (1999)
- The term sexual torture is
mentioned.
- Description of several methods
of sexual torture.
- Description of specific impacts
of sexual torture on males and
females.
Authorized Protocol for the
Investigation of the Crime of
Torture (2015)
- The term sexual torture is not
mentioned.
- Terms used: sexual assault,
rape.
- Sexual assault conducts are
not described.
- Description of most common
reactions to an event of
torture.
Methodology
• Non-representative sample of six male victims of
sexual, five of which are currently incarcerated.
• Previous interviews made for the Specialized Medical
and Psychological Verdict for Possible Torture Cases.
• Interviews to the victims’ relatives between 2012 and
2014.
• Complete confidentiality, no
identifying data are disclosed.
names
or
other
Results
Results
Results (subject 6)
• Considerable sexual and social distress.
• Genital beatings and shocks, forced nudity, and
threats against female relatives. Witness of his
sister’s sexual torture.
• Impacts
o Lack of interest in sexual activities.
o Not being able to have an erection since the torture incident.
o Fear of not having an erection again as a result of genital
beatings (“could have switched something off”).
o Fear of losing the family he has formed.
Discussion
• Detected patterns of sexual torture against
males in Mexico
o Forced nudity and electric shocks in genitalia.
o When receiving threats of using sexual violence
against relatives, only women were mentioned to
the victims.
Discussion
• Differences from other research studies on the
subject (Oosterhoff, Zwanikken & Ketting, 2004;
Townsend, 2006; Zawati, 2007).
• Differences from research studies made on female
victims in Mexico (Amnesty International, 2016).
• Lack of torture techniques that would imply a sexual
gratification for the attacker.
Challenges and proposals
• Challenges
o Incarceration
• Proposals
o Naming the events of torture as sexual torture.
o Maintaining or forming new support networks
o Reestablishing their masculinity through gender
based interventions.
Significance and limitations
• Significance
o A first approach to identify patters of sexual
torture on male individuals in Mexico.
o Sexual torture methods other than rape.
• Limitations
o Non-representative sample size.
o The objective of the interviews.
o Difficulty for further contact.