Gloucestershire men encouraged to speak about sexual abuse concerns
Organisations across the county have been encouraging men to prioritise their wellbeing this week.
Men across Gloucestershire who may have suffered sexual abuse are being encouraged to speak out.
The call comes from domestic abuse charity FearFree, as organisations champion men's mental health and wellbeing this week.
Chris Dawkins is a counsellor with the charity and said the impacts of abuse will be the same for men and women - but there is an extra stigma for men.
He said: "I feel like the extra bit for men comes down to kind of the culture and society. There's this general feeling that men are supposed to be strong, that boys don't cry, that men don't talk about their feelings or aren't vulnerable with each other.
"I think that is improving and changing, but the adults of today will have kind of lived through a childhood where that's very much the underlying message."
Chris added that the feelings of shame or embarrassment following such a traumatic event can lead to men feeling like they have to deal with it alone.
But he told Greatest Hits Radio that doesn't have to be the case, calling it "massively important" that a culture is created where men feel comfortable sharing their trauma's, which will reduce isolation.
Chris said: "I feel like with any kind of mental health thing, the longer it stays unspoken or it stays inside and you keep it to yourself as a secret, it becomes harder and harder to deal with.
"So the sooner that you can get the story heard, you can feel validated in your experience, you can get some support and some acceptance that's really starts the healing process."
He told us that consent is one of defining factors in whether something is abuse.
"If you've feel like you've been forced to do something, or there's the element of choice has been removed, then that counts as abuse, whether you're a man or woman," he said.
Chris revealed he's encouraged by the work being done to redefine what masculinity is, with more celebrities opening up about their own mental health.
"It makes it more of an acceptable topic of conversation and men don't feel like they're alone with it. I think it's going to take a long time for it to be completely fine butI do think things are improving," he said.