Male sexual abuse charity sees staggering 80% increase in calls following Baby Reindeer release

A male sexual abuse charity has seen a staggering 80 per cent increase in first-time callers since the release of Baby Reindeer.

Manchester-based charity We Are Survivors offers support for men, including trans and non-binary individuals, who are survivors of sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation.

The organisation revealed that since the release of the hit Netflix series - which follows a struggling comic as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by a woman for more than four years and comes to terms with being sexually abused - they have been “inundated” with new referals.

In the first two weeks following the show’s release, they had an 80 per cent increase in first time callers asking for support.

Remarkably, 53 per cent of those referred cited Baby Reindeer as their reason for coming forward for support. The charity also saw a 40 per cent increase in referrals from young people aged 26 to 35.

CEO and founder of the charity Duncan Craig OBE said that, while they have worked with scriptwriters to bring stories of male sexual abuse to screen before in the likes of Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Coronation Street, he has “never seen a response” like he has seen to Baby Reindeer.

“Before, some people might’ve read newspaper interviews and maybe a month later picked up the phone,” he told The Independent. “But with Baby Reindeer, it’s been absolutely instantaneous. I’ve never in 15 years I’ve been in this field seen a response like it.”

He added: “I always ask people what made them call today and many people have referred to Baby Reindeer.

“We’ve had people who have watch the show and gotten caught up in the media circus around it on social media and it’s enabled them to kind of think ‘well if everyone’s talking about it then so can I’.”

As well as the increased referrals, the charity had 492 new visitors to their site in the first two weeks - the majority of which came through a link provided by Netflix.

Mr Craig said that as well as enable survivors to speak out for support for the first time, it has also assisted people already receiving support to process their experiences.

He said: “Therapists have examples where people have literally brought lines from the show that have really resonated with them on backs and scraps of paper and said ‘this is what I’ve been trying to say all this time’.”

The biographical series, written by and starring comedian Richard Gadd, who is also a We Are Survivors ambassador, become a word-of-mouth sensation, shooting to the top of the streaming service’s most-watched charts with very little promotion when it was aired on April 11.

Mr Craig said it was the “honesty” of Mr Gadd’s character which showed the “grey areas” of abuse that has been particularly helpful for male survivors.

Referred specifically to when Mr Gadd’s character returned to his abusers home, he said: “Survivors will often have that kind of self-blame. I know personally that for so many years I kept going back to the person who caused me harm in some ways as an adult you think why didn’t you just stop going back? It is victim blaming.

“Maybe everyone wants stories that are black and white or goodie and baddie but in reality, it is grey and confusing. That is the reality of being a survivor”

Mr Craig is a survivor of sexual assault and exploitation himself from the ages of 11 to 22 and says the show provides an important cultural reference for male victims he did not have.

“I didn’t open my mouth about my early abuse and begin to define it until I was 29,” he said. “I genuinely think if I wasn’t training to be a therapist I would still be silent now.

“It had never occurred to me that [the abuse] wasn’t okay. I always knew I didn’t like, it but it didn’t occur to me that it was in the category of abuse.

“Part of reason I didn’t know it wasn’t okay was because where was my Baby Reindeer? What cultural reference did I have to say men and boys can be victims of sexual abuse?”

If you are a male survivor of sexual abuse and would like support, contact We Are Survivors on their 24/7 hotline at 0808 500 2222 or email support@wearesurvivors.org.uk.