Changing and rebuilding systems
National lived-experience led research on male violence & rape culture
We are conducting survivor-led, lived experience research across the UK to collect essential information on the realities of sexual violence and male violence.
This research is led by survivors and those directly impacted, ensuring that their voices and experiences shape the findings.
We are holding discussions in-person, over the phone, and online, with survivors, survivor-linked and survivor-led organisations, and the public.
Why we are doing this
Research on male and sexual violence is often led by those without lived experience, which can result in biased agendas, sterile questioning, and inaccessible methods that fail to capture the full landscape of harm. Survivors have critical knowledge and expertise that is often overlooked, yet they are the ones who truly understand the complexities of rape culture, misogyny, and victim blaming.
By centering survivors in curating and conducting this research, we aim to gather more honest, meaningful, and actionable insights into why rape, male violence, and sexual assault are so prevalent in the UK—and why society remains unequipped to prevent and respond to them effectively.
Why this is different
This research is survivor-led from start to finish. Unlike traditional or academic studies, which can be shaped by funders’ agendas or impersonal methods, we are creating compassionate and supportive spaces where people feel more comfortable in sharing their experiences authentically.
Our approach prioritises accessibility, depth, and survivor expertise, to make sure that the research reflects real experiences rather than just statistics or predefined narratives.
What we want from this
We want this research to lead to real change. Our findings will inform new, survivor-led ways to directly tackle rape and male violence while improving support for survivors. By shifting the way research is conducted and used, we aim to challenge harmful systems, influence new policy, and work towards building communities that better understand, prevent, and responds to male violence and rape culture.
Speaking to men
Ending male violence requires the active involvement of men. Too often, conversations about rape culture and male violence happen in spaces that exclude men or do not allow for their honest feelings and experiences. We seek to change that.
We want to speak directly with men. We want to create open spaces to have honest dialogue so that we can better understand men’s awareness, knowledge and perspective on the prevalence and impact of male violence and rape culture.
Within this, we want to explore men’s own relationship to harm and how this impacts and shapes the wider community and society.
Many men want to be part of the solution but don’t know where to start.
Through this research, we can better understand how men perceive these issues, what barriers exist to their engagement, and how we can encourage more men in taking action to challenge male violence in their own lives and communities.
How you can get involved
If you are interested in helping gather responses or you would like us to arrange a research space online, in person, in your community or group get in touch here.
Sign up to join our next research group:
Speaking to Survivors and those who have direct experience of harm
There is a deep lack of survivor-led research on male violence and rape culture within the UK. Too often research conducted on these subjects are curated and led by those without direct lived experience of harm and violence. This, alongside academia, has become standardised within the fields of research.
The impact of this is that it maintains and reinforces power dynamics within research, where survivors and those with lived experience are often tokenised, under prioritised or our expertise decentred. It can often fail to address the systemic issues at the heart of the violence.
We need survivors to be central, to be leading and conducting research based on our own experiences and expertise, not by what has been determined by those outside of our community. A space where we are allowed to criticise the systems that fail us so we can see the possibility of new ones.
Get
Involved
Email us to find out ways to get involved