On the 21st May 2025, we ran a webinar on "Male Survivor of Sexual Violence" where we welcomed guest speaker Dr Kennath Widanaralalage, King's College London. You can watch the webinar recording below.
Extra Resources
| kennath_widanaralalage_vamhn_slides.pdf |
Speaker information
Ken is a Psychologist and Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. His PhD focused on exploring the experiences of male-on-male rape survivors, which laid the foundation for his current research. He examines the experiences of male survivors of sexual violence across different age groups and ethnic backgrounds, including sexual and intimate partner violence. He explores the processes of disclosure, recognition, and help-seeking, investigating how socio-cultural factors, masculinity norms, and institutional responses shape survivors’ access to support and justice.
Ken’s work also investigates victim blaming, rape myth acceptance, and barriers within the criminal justice and mental health systems. He is particularly interested in how men’s experiences of sexual violence are perceived by society, professionals, and survivors themselves, and how these perceptions influence reporting, investigation, prosecution, and aftercare. He has conducted research on how juries perceive and respond to cases involving male survivors, aiming to improve understanding and outcomes in the judicial process.
Through empirical research, he aims to challenge misconceptions, improve service responses, and inform policies that enhance support and recognition for male survivors of sexual violence.
To find out more about Ken's work please visit his LinkedIn here.
Additional Resources:
Ken is a Psychologist and Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. His PhD focused on exploring the experiences of male-on-male rape survivors, which laid the foundation for his current research. He examines the experiences of male survivors of sexual violence across different age groups and ethnic backgrounds, including sexual and intimate partner violence. He explores the processes of disclosure, recognition, and help-seeking, investigating how socio-cultural factors, masculinity norms, and institutional responses shape survivors’ access to support and justice.
Ken’s work also investigates victim blaming, rape myth acceptance, and barriers within the criminal justice and mental health systems. He is particularly interested in how men’s experiences of sexual violence are perceived by society, professionals, and survivors themselves, and how these perceptions influence reporting, investigation, prosecution, and aftercare. He has conducted research on how juries perceive and respond to cases involving male survivors, aiming to improve understanding and outcomes in the judicial process.
Through empirical research, he aims to challenge misconceptions, improve service responses, and inform policies that enhance support and recognition for male survivors of sexual violence.
To find out more about Ken's work please visit his LinkedIn here.
Additional Resources:
- Widanaralalage, B. K., Hine, B. A., Murphy, A. D., & Murji, K. (2022). “I didn’t feel I was a victim”: A phenomenological analysis of the experiences of male-on-male survivors of rape and sexual abuse. Victims & Offenders, 17(8), 1147-1172.
- Widanaralalage, B. K., Hine, B. A., Murphy, A. D., & Murji, K. (2023). A qualitative investigation of service providers’ experiences supporting raped and sexually abused men. Violence and victims.
- Willmott, D., & Widanaralalage, B. K. (2024). Male rape myths: Examining the role of victim empathy and socio-demographics in a cross-sectional sample of UK adults. International journal of law, crime and justice, 76, 100645.
- Widanaralalage, B. K., Jennings, S., Dando, C., & Mackenzie, J. M. (2024). Prevalence, disclosure, and help seeking in Black and Asian male survivors of sexual violence in the United Kingdom: A rapid review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(4), 3299-3314.
- Widanaralalage, B. K., Hine, B. A., & Murphy, A. D. (2022). Male victims of sexual violence and their welfare in the criminal justice system. In Men and welfare (pp. 140-150). Routledge.
- Widanaralalage, B. K., Jennings, S., Dando, C., & Mackenzie, J. M. ‘We don’t talk about that around here’: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of South Asian men’s experiences of sexual violence in the UK, 15 February 2024, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3955979/v1]