Another horrific story... :(

Male rape victim speaks about his ordeal
Read Aasma Day's full and frank interview with a man who was raped and deliberately infected with HIV.
The 49-year-old Preston man says his life has been wrecked after he was raped by a man he trusted who drugged his drink.

Peter Robinson, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, admits that if it were not for the support he received from the Sexual Assault and Forensic Examination (SAFE) centre based at the Royal Preston Hospital, he would have taken his own life.

He has described the harrowing experience which left his life in tatters.

Peter recalled: "It was a 45-year-old man who I had met through my work and I had been out for a drink with him on three occasions.

"We had mutual interests, such as cycling and walking, and seemed to get on well.

"It was on the fourth occasion when we arranged to meet up for a drink and he changed the arrangements and said that he would come to my house instead.

"We had a few drinks, watched a film and were planning to order a takeaway. I went into the kitchen to get the takeaway menus and came back and topped up our drinks.

"I suddenly began feeling dizzy and sick, and the feelings began to intensify. I became alarmed and told him that I thought I needed to ring for a doctor or go to A&E.

"He just looked at me and smiled and said: 'Don't fight it. Just go with it.' It was then that I realised he had drugged my drink."

As Peter drifted into unconsciousness, his final thoughts were that the man planned to rob him and ransack his home.

It was only when he came back round that he realised the true horror of what had happened.

Unable to hold back his tears, Peter said: "My head felt like it had an axe in it and I felt very nauseous.

"I knew immediately then that he had raped me.

"The pain was incredible and it felt like I had a burning poker inside me."

For several hours, Peter lay slumped on the floor unable to come to terms with the horrifying attack.

Peter said: "I was utterly devastated and I knew I should call the police as this man should not be able to get away with this brutal physical violation.

"But I realised I had nothing on him as he had been amazingly clever and planned everything carefully with military precision.

"I had trusted him and it was the ultimate betrayal.

"I had no way of identifying him to the police as I did not know where he was from or even his real name. He had been very evasive with all his answers."

Peter did not confide in anyone but bottled his emotions. He spent the next few months hiding away from the world.

But just when he thought things could not get any worse, he was dealt a devastating blow.

He said: "A few months later, I became very ill with food poisoning and was put on a course of antiobiotics which gave me thrush.

"I went to a clinic to get it checked that it was thrush and I was offered others tests.

"When the results came back, they confirmed the man had given me HIV.

"My world just collapsed. He had left me with a permanent reminder of what he had done.

"At that moment, I just wanted to die."

Peter went through some very dark days and spent hours of each day sobbing.

His HIV consultant realised Peter could no longer suffer alone and put him in touch with the SAFE Centre based at Royal Preston Hospital.

The centre provides a service for forensic medical examination as well as comprehensive counselling and support for women, men and children who make a complaint of rape or sexual assault.

Facilities at the centre include a police interview suite.

The centre serves the whole of Lancashire and is a joint venture between Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and was initially supported financially by the TJH Foundation, a major local charity.

Peter said: "I spoke to a counsellor and released some of that awful burden. She was just so lovely, understanding and non-judgmental.

"I felt such a feeling of relief that there was someone who understood and cared as the mental strain had got too much for me to bear."

Peter has continued to receive counselling and support from the SAFE Centre and has slowly built his life back.

He has since reported the rape to Lancashire Police who believe the man deliberately infected him with HIV.

Peter said: "Without the SAFE Centre, I would certainly have ended my life. I was right on the edge and they brought me back.

"I wish I had known about the SAFE Centre when the rape happened, instead of a few months after.

"I have now told my family and my closest friends about the rape. They have been very supportive, but people do not know how to react when they hear a man has been raped.

"Men are supposed to be the protectors and providers and when you are raped, you feel you have failed.

"For ages, I kept asking myself what I had done wrong to make this man rape me.

"But the fact that he drugged me gave him the power to do it.

"I have recently discovered that as well as HIV, he gave me hepatitis C and I will now have to have treatment for that too.

"I feel a lot of hatred, anger and bitterness towards this man. I want him to die a slow and painful death. He put me through so much physical and mental suffering.

"No human being has the right to violate another human being in such a way."

Men are less likely than women to report rape to the police and are too afraid to even tell other people.

The SAFE Centre dealt with 673 referrals of people who had been raped or sexually assaulted from 2005 to 2006 - and only 54 of these were men.

But the Lancashire Male Rape Association hears from around 30 calls from men every month - and around 10 of these are from Preston alone.

DCI Kath Thundercloud from Lancashire Police said: "Very few men report rape or sexual assault to the police and we do know there are a lot more offences taking place than we know about.

"We encourage anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted to come forward to the police and they will be looked after and listened to.

"But if people do not want to report it to the police at the moment, they can self refer themselves to the SAFE Centre and do not have to tell the police at all as everything is confidential."

Anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted can contact the Safe Centre on 01772 523344. Men can ring Simon at the Male Rape Association on 07932 898274 or email malerapemrsa2001@yahoo.co.uk