The Cries of Men

About the Book

The Cries of Men tell the candid and true personal accounts of rape and sexual abuse from the voices of young Jamaican men.

The Cries of Men shares the candid and true personal account of rape and sexual abuse from the voices of young Jamaican men. By providing an in-depth look into their secret lives, author O'Brien Dennis demonstrates how one act of sexual violence can have a devastating effect on adult survivors.

The Cries of Men takes a virgin journey of homophobia in the realm of Jamaica's social fabric. Dennis reveals the powerful and intriguing stories of Jamaican male sexual abuse survivors, but also divulges unknown facts about Jamaican society- including the concept that homosexuality is an evil act, punishable by imprisonment of up to ten years of hard labor. Yet each week in Jamaica, there are over fifteen reported cases of sexual abuse of young men and boys, many more cases go unreported because men fear for their lives if they disclose the abuse. Dennis also provides a list of resources to assist in recovering from sexual abuse.

The cries of men have been kept silent far too long in Jamaica. Dennis will inspire you with his own personal story of survival and will teach you that through the truth, you can create your own happiness.

About the Author

O’Brien Dennis’s life has been anything but easy; however, he has been anything but a failure. He was born and raised on the Island of Jamaica. The absence of Dennis’s biological father and his mother’s hectic work schedule in maintaining her household made Dennis’s early years challenging. As he matured into adolescence, Dennis was face with a dilemma. Even though he had experienced male-female relationships, he never acknowledged his homosexual desires during his teenage years. Nonetheless, nothing in the repressive, homophobic island of Jamaica helped Dennis to deal with or understand his homosexuality, which often made him feel not only alienated from himself, but also, from his country. Dennis now resides in Westchester Country in New York State and his involved in many community outreach programs. Dennis is currently a community researcher at The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. The New York City Alliance is a non profit organization that helps to develop strategies, policies and responses that prevent sexual violence and limits its destabilizing effects on victims, families and communities. O'Brien holds a BA in African History and a minor in International Relations. Dennis is currently a graduate student at Metropolitan College of New York, where he is currently working on a dissertation surrounding how to help male victims of sexual assault break their silence. Dennis within his spare time is working on his first fiction novel, a love story that entwines, deception, lust, infidelity, and the complexities of sexuality within relationships nestled in an island paradise.