ABSTRACT
Introduction The body of scholarly research focused on sexual victimization primarily recognizes girls and women as victims, while boys and men are viewed as perpetrators (Stemple and Meyer 2014; Weiss 2010). At the same time, definitions and societal conceptualizations of sexual victimization have substantially evolved during the past 40 years from narrow delineations based on violations of criminal laws to more inclusive definitions covering a wide range of conduct primarily motivated by power – as male perpetrators exercised their physical and social dominance to sexually victimize women and girls (Fisher and Cullen 2000). More recent research examining the phenomenon of sexual victimization and sexual violence against boys and men (by male or female perpetrators) has been received with skepticism by some scholars who fear that it will impede the important strides made in combatting the international epidemic of violence against women (see, e.g., Stemple and Meyer 2014). In a similar way – a less-studied form of sexual victimization – sex trafficking has primarily been conceptualized as a form of human trafficking perpetrated by males against female victims, neglecting male victims, particularly those exploited by female perpetrators.
