In what is being touted as a first in the world, a hospital in Stockholm in Sweden on Thursday opened a clinic for male victims of rape and sexual assault.
The move by the hospital at Södersjukhuset was made in an attempt to ensure 'gender equal' patient care, reported The Local.
The hospital, which has the largest emergency care unit in the Nordic region, already has a walk-in section for female victims of sexual violence and treats nearly 700 patients annually.
Rasmus Jonlund, a press spokesperson for the Liberal Party, which led the campaign for the clinic in Stockholm told The Local, "We are happy that we now can finally open the first rape clinic for men following the rape clinic for women."
He said that the emergency department for male rape victims in Sweden is likely to be a first in the world as they hadn't found "another from our research on the world wide web."
"We don't know how many people will use it (...) but we know that there are many who experience these kinds of assaults but don't currently seek care," Jonlund added.
"Emergency medical care for raped men will be free of charge, and offered around the clock, all year," the report quotes Marie Ljungberg Schött, a local Moderate Party party politician and council representative on emergency care, as saying in a statement.
370 cases of sexual assault on men and boys were reported across Sweden in 2014, according to Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention data, adds the report.