We live in a 21st century where men and women is treated equally, enjoys equal freedom of speech and expression. As for the upliftment of the women in the society our constitution gives certain privileges to women so that she can cope up with the male dominant society.

But, with the passage of time crime gets increases day by day. Assault, rape, murders and many more crimes take place every day. The victim can be anyone it may be women or men. The rating of assault on women is higher than men but we couldn't deny the fact that man also faced the same trauma as the women faced. Every society give strong response to criminal act and legal system which is controlled and run by several organs of the govt are responsible to curb the criminal environment so that the welfare of the nation and peaceful prevail.

This paper explains about existing constitutional and legal framework in India to protect and describe the right of sexually assault victim. This paper examined the role of apex court for the protection of teenagers and men and their basic fundamental right remain enforceable against sexual abuse.

Introduction
Sexual assault or abuse can happen to anyone. Anyone can the victim of sexual assault. Ones' person age, gender, identity doesn't matter. Men or boy who have been sexually assaulted or abused may have many of the same feelings and reactions as other women survivors of sexual assault. But society may have different opinions regarding men or boy sexual assault and stereotypes about men and masculinity.

Meaning Of Assault:

An assault is the act of inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person, a threat or attempt to commit an action.

So, what is Male Molestation exactly?
According, to an organisation that acts as a helpline for male survivors, “Many things qualify as 'unwanted sexual experiences', even if at first a boy or man was grateful for the attention. It could include an experience that a man may not be ready to label as sexual abuse or sexual assault, or even understand how it might have been.”

There are a lot of myths around male rape and molestation which is why men don't report the abuse. The common myths are that sexual abuse doesn't affect men and questions the masculinity of the person. Also, that women cannot practically rape men is among the top myths associated with male rape. Which is why males often spend years before they even acknowledge a violation has taken place.

Go News surveyed a sample size of men which highlighted the problem of admission:

Common Reaction

Men and boys who have been sexually assaulted may experience the same effects of sexual assault as other survivors, and they may face other challenges that are more unique to their experience.

Some men who have survived sexual assault as adults feel shame or self-doubt, believing that they should have been “strong enough” to fight off the perpetrator. Many men who experienced an erection or ejaculation during the assault may be confused and wonder what this means. These normal physiological responses do not in any way imply that you wanted, invited, or enjoyed the assault. If something happened to you, know that it is not your fault and you are not alone.

• Men who were sexually abused as boys or teens may also respond differently than men who were sexually assaulted as adults. The following list includes some of the common experiences shared by men and boys who have survived sexual assault. It is not a complete list, but it may help
• you to know that other people are having similar experiences: Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks, and eating disorders
• Avoiding people or places that remind you of the assault or abuse
• Concerns or questions about sexual orientation
• Fear of the worst happening and having a sense of a shortened future
• Feeling like "less of a man" or that you no longer have control over your own body
• Feeling on-edge, being unable to relax, and having difficulty sleeping
• Sense of blame or shame over not being able to stop the assault or abuse, especially if you experienced an erection or ejaculation
• Withdrawal from relationships or friendships and an increased sense of isolation.

How to support male survivors-It can be hard to tell someone that you have experienced sexual assault or abuse. You may fear that you will face judgment or not be believed. For many male survivors, stereotypes about masculinity can also make it hard to disclose to friends, family, or the community. Men and boys also may face challenges believing that it is possible for them to be victims of sexual violence, especially if it is perpetrated by a woman. Below are a few suggestions on how you can support a man or boy who discloses to you that he has experienced sexual assault or abuse.

•  Listen. Many people in crisis feel as though no one understands them and that they are not taken seriously. Show them they matter by giving your undivided attention. It is hard for many survivors to disclose assault or abuse, especially if they fear not being believed because of stereotypes about masculinity.
• Validate their feelings. Avoid making overly positive statements like “It will get better” or trying to manage their emotions, like “Snap out of it” or “You shouldn't feel so bad.” Make statements like “I believe you” or “That sounds like a really hard thing to go through.”
• Express concern. Tell them in a direct way that you care about them by saying something like “I care about you” or “I am here for you.”
• Do not ask about details of the assault. Even if you are curious about what happened and feel that you want to fully understand it, avoid asking for details of how the assault occurred.

However, if a survivor chooses to share those details with you, try your best to listen in a supportive and non-judgmental way.

Provide appropriate resources. There may be other aspects in men's lives that could limit their ability to access resources and services after experiencing sexual assault or abuse. For example, trans men may face barriers when navigating medical care or black men may have concerns about reaching out to law enforcement. Be sensitive to these worries, and when supporting a survivor try your best to suggest resources you feel will be most helpful. Some men who have survived sexual assault as adults feel shame or self-doubt, believing that they should have been “strong enough” to fight of the perpetrator.

Many men who experienced an erection or ejaculation during the assault may be confused and wonder what this means. These normal physiological responses do not in any way imply that you wanted, invited, or enjoyed the assault. If you were sexually assaulted, it was not your fault. You can find help at 1in6, an organization RAINN partners with that is dedicated to helping men who have survived unwanted or abusive sexual experiences.

Male rape and sexual abuse has a negative connotation to it among both heterosexual and homosexual men. In a patriarchal society, it is difficult for men to even talk about rape, let alone report it. A significant portion of victims of rape, molestation and other sexual violence are men. Rape in India has been defined as a crime solely committed against women. Section 375 of IPC defines rape as a criminal offence associated with women only. Indian law does not consider a man as 'victim' and a woman as 'offender'. Cases of male rape are charged under sodomy in India.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, imposes the death penalty for rape of girls below 12 years. The minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from 7 to 10 years. Also, for perpetrators whose victims are girls under the age of 16, the punishment has been increased from 10 to 20 years, extendable to life imprisonment. However, legislation makes no mention of males whatsoever.

What if I experienced sexual assault as an adult?

• These are myths that everyone absorbs growing up, and continues to hear as adults, usually without even thinking about it. So of course some boys and men will, at least for a while, believe them and suffer the consequences.
   
• So long as societies believe these myths, and teach them to children from their earliest years, many men harmed by unwanted or abusive sexual experiences won't get the recognition and help they need.
   
• So long as boys or men harmed by unwanted or abusive sexual experiences believe these myths, they will feel ashamed and be less likely to seek whatever knowledge, understanding and help they need to achieve the lives they want and deserve.
   
• So long as boys, men, and society as a whole believes these myths and males don't get the help they need, males are more likely to join the minority who end up hurting others.
   
• And so long as these myths are believed, it increases the power of another devastating myth: that it was the child's fault. It is never the fault of the child in a sexual situation – although some people are skilled at getting those they use or abuse to take on a responsibility that is always, and only, their own.
   

Cases Related To The Sexual Assault

The total number of cases registered under the POSCO (Preventon Of Children From Sexual Offences) Act during 15 to 19 is 13,184 of which 2,213 cases involved sexual abuse of 2,250 boys. The offences ranged from aggravated penetrative sexual assault to sexual harassment by showing them nudity of forcing the child to do so. In percentage terms, major crime against children during 2018 were kidnapping and abduction which accounted for 44.2 per cent followed by cases under POCSO, which accounted for 34.7 per cent, the data showed.

A total of 67,134 children (19,784 male,47,191 female and 159 transgender) were reported missing in 2018. During the year 2018, a total of 71,176 children (22,239 male, 48,787 female and 150 transgender) were traced, the NCRB data said.

As many as 781 cases of use of child for pornography or storing child pornography material was also recorded in 2018, more than double that of 2017 when 331 such cases were recorded, the data showed.

The state-wise segregation of crimes against children reveals Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Bihar accounted for 51 per cent of all crimes in the country, the data said.

While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 19,936 recorded crimes against children (14 per cent of total crimes), Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the close second and third with 18,992 and 18,892 crimes registered respectively. The report also showed that cases of sexual harassment in shelter homes against women and children reportedly increased by 30 per cent, from 544 cases recorded in 2017 to 707 cases in 2018.

Mahara suggested that financial investments must be adequately increased with a focus on prevention of crimes against children and the identification of vulnerable children and families.

Rape Of Males

Sexual assault or abuse is unwanted sexual activity with perpetrators using force making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent. A significant proportion of victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against women. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past.

Rape of males is still taboo, and has a negative connotation among heterosexual and homosexual men. Community and service providers often react to the sexual orientation of male victims and the gender of their perpetrators. It may be difficult for male victims to report a sexual assault they experienced, especially in a society with a strong masculine custom. They might be afraid that people will doubt their sexual orientation and label them homosexual, especially if raped by a male, or that they may be seen as un-masculine because they were a victim. Mostly, male victims try to hide and deny their victimization, similar to female.

Male-on-male rape-Male-on-male rape has been heavily stigmatized. According to psychologist Sarah Crome, fewer than 1 in 10 male-male rapes are reported. As a group, male rape victims reported a lack of services and support, and legal systems are often ill-equipped to deal with this type of crime.[10] In the United Kingdom, epidemiological studies have suggested that the rate of male rape is higher in gay and college communities.

Several studies argue that male-on-male prisoner rape, as well as female-on-female prisoner rape, are common types of rape which go unreported even more frequently than rape in the general population. The rape of men by men has been documented as a weapon of terror in warfare (see also War rape). In the case of the Syrian Civil War (2011–present), the male detainees experienced sexual abuse such as being forced to sit on a broken glass bottle, getting their genitals tied to a heavy bag of water, or being forced to watch the rape of another detainee by the officials.

Female-on-male rape-Female-on-male rape is under-researched compared to other forms of sexual violence. Statistics on the prevalence of female-on-male sexual violence vary. One study (Hannon et al.) found 23.4% of women and 10.5% of men reported they were raped while 6.6% of women and 10.5% of men reported they were victims of attempted rape. A 2010–2012 study by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that one in 17 men (5.9%) reported being made to penetrate at some point in their lives (up from 4.8% in 2010).

The surveys also found that male victims often reported only female perpetrators in instances of being made to penetrate (2012: 78.5%, 2010: 79.2%), sexual coercion (2012: 81.6%, 2010: 83.6%), and unwanted sexual contact (2012: 53.0%, 2010: 53.1%). Among male victims who were raped by being penetrated, 86.5% reported only male perpetrators, (down from 93.3% in the previous study published in 2010). A 2008 study of 98 men interviewed on the United States National Crime Victimization Survey found that nearly half of the men (46%) who reported some form of sexual victimization were victimized by women.

Regarding female-on-male sexual misconduct, the US Dept. of Justice reports in its opening statement, An estimated 4.4% of prison inmates and 3.1% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months."

Regarding female-on-male sexual misconduct it states:
Among the 39,121 male prison inmates who had been victims of staff sexual misconduct, 69% reported sexual activity with female staff; an additional 16% reported sexual activity with both female and male staff " and "Nearly two-thirds of the male jail inmates who had been victimized said the staff perpetrator was female (64%)."Male victims of sexual abuse by females often face social, political, and legal double standards.

The case of Cierra Ross' sexual assault of a man in Chicago gained national headlines and Ross was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and armed robbery with a bail set at $75,000. A similar case includes James Landrith, who was made to penetrate a female acquaintance in a hotel room while incapacitated from drinking, while his rapist cited the fact that she was pregnant to advise him not to struggle, as this might hurt the baby.
 

Marital status	Male	Female	Transgender
Unmarried	19987	10512	4
Married	64791	27742	0
Widowed/Widower	1257	1072	0
Divorced	520	423	0
Separated	559	288	2
Others	1792	884	4
Status not known	3208	1470	1
Total	92114	42391	11

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report in 2018, about 70% of all suicide victims were men,[131] the same as the suicide demographics for married victims. Kumar V. Jahgirdar, president of Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), has attributed the suicides among married men on family stress.

Mithun Kumar, a researcher at SIFF, has said that police don't take any action even if the suicide note of a man states that he was tortured by his wife and in-laws, but in case of a woman's suicide her husband's family is taken into custody without investigation.

However, in a 2012 report published by the Million Death Study researchers, it was stated that since attempting suicide in India was a crime until 2014, suicides are under-reported, especially suicides of young married women. Because in case of the suicide of a married women, usually the husband and his family are held responsible if the suicide has occurs within seven years of marriage. Sometimes suicides are mis-categorised as accident deaths.

The Laws
The men's rights activists claims that the anti-dowry laws are being frequently misused to harass and extort husbands. The high rate of suicide among married men in India is also attributed to harassment under these laws by the activists. The practice of giving dowry was first criminalised in 1961 under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and later the Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was introduced in 1983.

The Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code which deals with cruelty to a wife states that:
Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

For the purposes of this section, Cruelty means:

1. any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or
2. harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.

The Section 113b of the Indian Evidence Act, 1879 says that if a married woman committed suicide within seven years of marriage, it must be assumed by the court that her husband and his family abetted the suicide, especially if there was evidence of prior dowry demands.

Until July 2014, the Section 498a of the Indian Penal Code allowed the police to arrest the persons mentioned in the complaint without a warrant or without any investigation. The crime was non-bailable, so chances of getting a bail are low and husbands usually lost their jobs while in custody. On 2 July 2014, the Supreme Court of India in an order stopped automatic arrests under the Section 498a.

The Court directed the police to use the Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which contains a checklist, to decide whether an arrest is necessary. The Court also stated that in all arrests the magistrate must examine whether further detention was necessary. There is also no provision of withdrawing a complaint in case of a reconciliation. However, an amendment to rectify this has been proposed.

Of all arrests made the Indian Penal Code, 6% are made under the Section 498a. Of all crimes reported under the Indian Penal Code, 4.5% are filed under Section 498a, which is the highest barring theft and hurt. Of the cases that go to trial, only 15% result in conviction. In July 2014, 3,72,706 cases under Section 498a were pending in Indian courts.

India
The rape of males in India is commonly underreported. For this reason, some activists and research organizations, including Jai Vipra at the New Delhi think-tank Centre for Civil Society, argue that the phrasing of rape laws should be gender-neutral. This view is opposed by some human rights advocates and women's rights activists. Mumbai-based human rights lawyer Flavia Agnes told the India Times, "I oppose proposal [sic] to make rape laws gender-neutral.

We had opposed it when the government made child rape laws gender-neutral ... If made gender-neutral, rape laws will not have the deterrence value and it will make it more complicated for judges in court." International human rights lawyer and activist Vrinda Grover was quoted in the same article: "There are no instances of women raping men. I don't think men are facing serious sexual violence as [sic] women. Consider the brutality and intensity of sexual violence against women."

Criticism of the laws
According to SIFF, these laws don't follow conventional legal premises where a person is innocent until proven guilty. It has also pointed out that several of those who are arrested under this law are women themselves, i.e., female relatives of husbands. Swarup Sarkar, a spokesperson of SIFF, has said that men with low incomes are rarely targeted and most victims of misuse are well-off. He has claimed that these laws assume that women are always truthful, and don't place much importance on evidence. An Indian court has termed misuse of these laws, legal terrorism.

Almost of a quarter of people arrested under Section 498a are women, mostly mothers and sisters of the accused husband. In 2012, 47,951 women were arrested under this law. According to Ram Prakash Chugh, a large majority of the women in Tihar jail are there due to dowry charges. He has claimed that sometimes mothers of the bride bring dowry charges on their in-laws when the bride fails to adjust to her in-laws. Organisations like All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum (AIMPF) and Mothers And Sisters of Husbands Against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL) have been formed to represent such women.

Some non-resident Indians (NRI) groups have also demanded amendments to the anti-dowry law. Anindya Chatterjee, a California-based IT worker who runs an online support group, was accused under the law. He has said that sometimes while visiting India, men are accused under the law and get arrested by police without verifying if the case is genuine and their passports are seized. The cases often take a year to clear up, as a result the men lose their jobs abroad due to frequent travels to attend the court or being unable to leave India. Canada and United States have issued travel advisories warning of India's anti-dowry law misuses in the past.

Jyotsna Chatterjee, member of the Joint Women's Programme which was involved in drafting the Domestic Violence Act 2005, has responded to these criticism of the anti-dowry law, by stating that compared to the men who have faced the misuse of the anti-dowry law, many more women have suffered from dowry demands. She has said that there has been no change in the way society sees women and they are still treated as second-class citizens.

Indira Jaising has also rejected the view that anti-dowry law and domestic violence laws are being misused. She has also claimed that the high acquittal under dowry cases occurs because prosecutions are conducted improperly and people are encouraged to settle out of court. Indrani Sinha of Sanlaap has said that the anti-dowry cannot be easily misused. She said that if the husband and his family are innocent then they should go to the police before the wife and file a complaint.

Conclusion:
So, we can say that every child has the right to education. Education is the weapon to eradicate these kind of problem. Educated teenagers have capacity to differentiate between right and wrong consent, good decision-making, refusal skills and the empowerment of bystanders to intervene.

Rights and basic laws should also be included in academic work so that teenagers should aware of these assaults and know there rights properly. Parents should be friendly with their children so as to make them comfortable during such circumstances/situation. NGO's and social activist plays an important role in redressal of such issues.

Reference:

1. https://www.rainn.org/articles/sexual-assault-men 2-https://www.gonewsindia.com/latest-news/health/sexual-abuse-of-males-shrouded-in-the-shadows-553and-boys
2. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/109-children-sexually-abused-every-day-india-2018-1636160-2020-01-12
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_males
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_rights_movement_in_India#:~:text=The%20men's%20rights%20activists%20claims,these%20laws%20by%20the%20activists.