It is estimated that 90% of male rape cases do not get reported, statistics which mean that many men are left to struggle alone.

Contributing factors include shame, disbelief and the fear of ridicule, but predominant is the stigma society has attached to male rape.

This is the reason why the Northern Quota is launching a campaign to highlight why we need to break the stigma and educate about the true reality of male rape.

For decades men have been taught to not show weakness and to be masculine, so when a man is sexually assaulted they feel reluctant to report the crime.

Society’s response can be characterised as, ‘why couldn’t you push them off?’

There are few charities around the country which deal with male rape and yet the ones out there are being faced with uncertainty over funding, as the biggest male sexual assault charity, Survivors UK, saw its funding being cut to zero last year.

This is not acceptable when 90% of cases are not being reported.

Since Operation Yew Tree in 2012, there has been a sharp rise in historical rape cases being reported and with the current football sexual abuse scandal unfolding as we speak, now is the time to speak about male sexual assault.

Manchester is showing early signs of progression, with reports of adult rape increasing to around 40% in the region, in comparison to 2014, but whilst this might seem a high increase it is still significantly low in terms of numbers.

Sign our petition to change the laws regarding rape:

https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-change-the-laws-regarding-male-rape

Use #breaktaboo to support the campaign on Twitter.

For details of the campaign visit: breakthetaboo1.wordpress.com