FOURTEEN MALE RAPE VICTIMS TREATED IN A COUNTY HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM OVER A 39-MONTH PERIOD WERE COMPARED WITH 100 RANDOMLY SELECTED FEMALE VICTIMS TREATED OVER THE SAME PERIOD. DATA SHEETS INCLUDING DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION, SPECIFICS OF THE ASSAULT, AND THE VICTIM'S REACTION WERE COMPILED FOR EACH VICTIM. WHEN COMPARED, DATA SHOWED THAT THE MALE VICTIMS AS A GROUP SUSTAINED MORE PHYSICAL TRAUMA, WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A VICTIM OF MULTIPLE ASSAULTS FROM MULTIPLE ASSAILANTS, AND WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN HELD CAPTIVE LONGER. THEY WERE ALSO MORE RELUCTANT TO REVEAL INITIALLY THE GENITAL COMPONENT OF THEIR ASSAULT AND WERE MORE LIKELY TO USE DENIAL AND CONTROL THEIR EMOTIONS IN REACTION TO THE ASSAULT THAN THE FEMALES. HOME, SOCIAL, AND WORK LIFE OF MALE VICTIMS IN THE STUDY SHOWED MARKED INSTABILITY, FAR GREATER THAN THAT AMONG FEMALE VICTIMS. MALE VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ALSO SEEMED IN GENERAL TO BE UNAFFILIATED WITH THE HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY, AND SEXUAL ASSAULT OF MALES APPEARED TO BE AN EXPRESSION OF ANGER, POWER, AND DOMINANCE OVER THE VICTIM. SINCE MALE RAPE VICTIMS REPORT ASSAULT SO INFREQUENTLY, AND BECAUSE THE NATURE OF THE ASSAULT IS SO OFTEN MASKED, IDENTIFICATION OF SUCH VICTIMS REQUIRES A HIGH INDEX OF SUSPICION. ALTHOUGH LITTLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE EFFECT OF RAPE ON MALES, IN SPITE OF ITS INCREASING FREQUENCY (10 PERCENT OF ALL RAPE VICTIMS IN 1978 WERE MALE), IT APPEARS THAT MALE VICTIMS OF RAPE MAY EXPERIENCE MAJOR, HIDDEN TRAUMA. THREE CASE HISTORIES OF MALE RAPE VICTIMS ARE OUTLINED, AND A LIST OF REFERENCES GIVEN. (MJW)