VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS OF MALE SEXUAL ASSAULT

Within the literature, two differing accounts of male sexual assault a re hypothesized-one is the view that it is perpetrated by offenders wh o are characteristically homosexual, and the other that it is an examp le of heterosexual violence. Two studies were conducted that explored these opposing possibilities. The first was an analysis of data collec ted from two sources-83 victim self-repel? questionnaires and review o f 36 investigated police reports. The results indicated that homosexua l offenders were more likely to have known their victims for some time and target those under the age of 25. Heterosexual offenders tended t o attack strangers of all ages and were more likely to operate in gang s A comparison of the two samples indicated that the acquaintance sexu al assault was less likely to be reported to the police, drawing atten tion to the fact that differing explanations may be strongly influence d by the particular sample under study.