Our Values

Since 2000 we’ve been supporting people who self identify as male who are affected by unwanted sexual experiences.

We use the term ‘unwanted sexual experience’ to include any non-consensual or unwanted act of sexualised violence, coercion, manipulation or abuse. For example online or text abuse, childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, rape. Everyone’s experience is unique and you will have your own language for what has happened to you.

1 in 6 men have been affected by unwanted sexual experiences

That’s over 5 million people in the UK

We believe in being Inclusive, Respectful, and Ambitious. We offer male centred support to people who are over 18 and have been sexually abused or assaulted at any time in their lives. We offer online services to people living in England and Wales and face to face services to those living in Sussex. We welcome cis men, non-binary, gender fluid, trans and intersex people. So if you feel like a male centred service will suit you best then please contact us.

We are not able to work with individuals who have committed an act of sexual abuse or are currently under any kind of criminal investigation around a sexual crime. We also understand that in some instances an individual can perpetrate an act of sexual abuse and also be a survivor of sexual abuse and be in need of help and support. In these instances we have a clear referral pathway through our partnership with StopSo

We are Inclusive

We believe in equality, inclusion and celebrating diversity. We value all our Employees and Service Users and Stakeholders and treat them with fairness, dignity and respect. We work towards ensuring that people with all protected characteristics are included in our governance and can fully access our services. Our services are free to ensure money isn’t a barrier to receiving support.

We are Respectful

We show respect to our Service Users by operating in a person centred way and ensuring that Service Users are the heart of our governance structures. We hear, and act on what they tell us. We are flexible and open-minded, and treat everyone respectfully.

We are Ambitious

We’re committed to doing our best work in order to achieve the best outcomes possible for as many Service Users as possible.  This means seeking continuous improvement and efficiency and striving to improve our services. It also means striving to increase the number of people we serve and increasing our reach to ensure we are serving as many communities as possible.

Our Mission

‘To improve the well-being of men (18+) who have been sexually abused, sexually assaulted or raped’.

We will do this by listening to you and through continuous improvement of an evidenced based trauma and recovery model. We will ensure that all staff and the organisation are trauma informed in all aspects of our delivery. We ensure that all clinical staff at Mankind are many years qualified in trauma therapy and are fully trained in our clinical model. You can read more about the team and see their qualifications here.

If you’d like to read more about how we will pursue our mission, head to our strategy page.

The Services We Provide

This graphic shows the full cycle of services we provide

Self-Help Resources – 1in6.uk website

Tools and information to help you understand and cope with how you are feeling

Introductory Call – 15 min conversation

Initial phone call with a counsellor to explore next steps

Initial Meeting – 1 hour meeting

Discuss your needs, hopes and expectations with a counsellor

Individual Counselling – Up to 24 weeks

Weekly therapy with a counsellor to explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours

Psycho-education Course – 10 week course

Learn about trauma and develop your self help skills and resources

Group Therapy – 20 week group

Work together to make sense of the past and develop goals for the future

Activists Network – Opportunities for action 

Assist with research, campaigning and policy making 

Peer Support – Online forum

Connect with other men in safe online space to offer and receive peer support 24/7

What you can expect from us:

We will

  • Provide a dedicated, highly experienced and qualified team. Click here to see our current team.
  • Treat you in a professional, courteous and caring manner and provide all self identifying male survivors (including non-binary, gender fluid, trans and intersex people) with the same quality and level of service based on needs.
  • Respect your personal privacy and protect your confidentiality, except where we have a legal obligation to provide your information. Access our confidentiality policy here.
  • Communicate clearly and effectively with you in plain language.
  • Aim to make our services as accessible as possible.
  • Advise you at the outset on the service that we provide and the occasions where we may need to refer you to other organisations.
  • Deal with your personal information securely and in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
  • Deal with enquiries efficiently and quickly, and where possible, swiftly put things right if they should go wrong.
  • Provide you with access to policies and information that affect you and a mechanism on how you can provide comments/feedback (see our feedback section below).
  • Provide you with opportunities to give us feedback through a transparent complaints process and at various stages of your journey via feedback forms to ensure we can continue to improve our service.

You can help us by:

  • Giving us all the information about yourself and your therapy needs/goals so that we can discuss and agree with you whether our service will match your needs. If we cannot meet your needs, we will suggest other services that can support you. 
  • Being respectful and courteous of others at all times, including staff and other clients.
  • Being respectful of Mankind UK’s property.
  • Engaging in your therapy in a fit state (not under the influence of drugs or alcohol).
  • Being available and on time for your appointments or letting us know, as soon as you can, if you need things to change.
  • Maintaining confidentiality regarding information about others or participants in groups.
  • Providing us with feedback and suggestions throughout your journey with Mankind UK.
  • Consider joining our Lived Experience group once you have completed therapy with us. More information is available by emailing admin@mkcharity.org.

Mankind aims to establish a collaborative relationship between our staff and clients based on mutual respect, clear communication and openness.  We have a zero-tolerance policy towards abuse, harassment, or unlawful discrimination against our staff and clients. Ensuring our staff and clients are treated with dignity and respect is Mankind UK’s priority and we may cease offering our services to any client whose conduct is deemed unacceptable.

Feedback and Complaints

Service user feedback is vital to help us improve the services we provide. It’s through your feedback that we build on the understanding of our philosophy and approach and adapt our policies. 

We welcome any and all feedback at any time so you don’t have to wait until the end of your Mankind journey. Feedback can be a compliment, suggestion, or complaint.  

If you would like to share any aspect of your experiences with us or feel you have been unjustly denied a service, please contact us via email at admin@mkcharity.org or leave a message on 01273 911680. 

You have the right to make a complaint about our service at any stage via our feedback forms, contacting us via admin@mkcharity.org, or by leaving us a message on 01273 911680. All complaints will be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints Policy. 

Mankind UK is an organisational member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). We adhere to their ethical framework by providing safe, ethical and professional counselling and psychotherapy services.

If you are unhappy with the response from our service, believe that you have been denied access to our service without good reason, or feel uncomfortable approaching us directly, you can contact the BACP to discuss your concerns. 

The Mankind UK Lived Experience Group works together to provide feedback, raise awareness, be consultative campaigners, and review our policies. If you’d like to hear more about the group or get involved please email admin@mkcharity.org

You Said, We Did:

You Said, We Did is the way we publicise the actions we have taken to improve survivor experience.  We listen to what you tell us and aim to make changes as a result of these comments.  We are regularly using the feedback we receive to continuously improve survivor experience. See below some examples of the changes we have made to respond to what you told us:

You asked to be more involved in service design: We held a service design workshop with clear actions for our survivor activism group to follow up. Changes were made to our group content and psycho-education groups are now offered online.

You told us that whilst you found the website easy to navigate the verification bar was a challenge for those with dyslexia: We will add a Google version of captcha that is clearer than the current verification.

You asked us to brighten the building up: We have painted the building, bought new furniture, artwork and plants for all the rooms and commonways.

You asked us to provide male hygiene bins in our building: These have now been installed

If you require this information in a printed format please email admin@mkcharity.org