Japan's welfare ministry is creating for the first time a survey specifically focusing on boys and men victimized by sexual violence, ministry sources said Monday.

With little social awareness of the issue, the ministry wants to quickly create a support system for male victims of sexual violence by securing a better grasp of the situation, they said.

The shame and fear that they will not be believed prevent many male victims from speaking about their experiences or seeking help, according to support organizations.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has set up a research group to determine the finer points of creating the survey during the current fiscal year ending March. The group includes doctors to establish guidelines for medical institutions to offer better care for male victims.

The Cabinet Office conducts a public survey every three years asking men and women about violence they have experienced. However, questions on sexual violence are limited and the survey does not focus on the various aspects of sexual trauma specific to men.

In the last such survey released in 2021, which was conducted during November to December 2020, there were 1,635 male respondents.

Of those, 1.0 percent, or 17 boys or men, responded that they had been coerced into sexual activity, with abusers ranging from people they met at school to complete strangers.

Of the male victims, 12 did not seek help, stating reasons such as "I can get through this somehow by enduring," "I thought it would be useless even if I sought help," "I did not want to involve other people," and "I didn't know to whom and where to turn for advice or help."

Support centers, some established by municipal governments, want to encourage men to seek help.

"I don't want them (male victims) to blame themselves. No one knows what to do when (a sexual assault) happens suddenly," said an official of the Fukuoka Victim Support Center in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Social awareness of sexual violence is predominantly focused on the experience of women, affecting the type and scale of research as well as support for victims.

Few consultation windows offer care for male victims, said Azusa Saito, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Mejiro University in Tokyo.

"There are cases of men wondering if they will be 'truly heard,'" she added.

"We need to eliminate society's gender bias and deepen understanding of male victimization," including through surveys targeting not just women but also men, she said.