Male survivors of sexual abuse in Norway may soon be counselled using a book developed with Windsor men in mind.

Tom Wilken, author of Rebuilding Your House of Self-Respect, said Monday he has been contacted by a Norwegian social worker who works in the prison system with young men aged 16 to 24. Wilken gave the woman permission to have his book translated and have up to 500 copies distributed throughout the country.

The book was first published in 2003, with a second printing in 2006. Wilken, founder of the Silence to Hope and Healing, which helps male survivors of sexual abuse, had been working at a sexual assault crisis centre in Chatham and found a lack of written materials for male victims. So he put in writing the topics he covered in counselling sessions and quotes he collected from participants.

The book is already used in the Silence to Hope group sessions, offered in Windsor and London, and is distributed through government agencies to probation officers, children's aid workers and workers in victim-witness programs. Other groups in Ontario and Detroit use it, too.

To accompany the book, there's a workbook developed with the help of Windsor men who participated in group sessions here.

Using his book as a resource, Wilken developed a network of group counselling for male survivors of sexual abuse. A huge sex abuse scandal had hit the Roman Catholic church locally, in the sexual assault of 47 females by Rev. Charles Sylvestre. After the court case concluded the diocese of London and the province announced funding for sexual assault crisis centres. But Wilken, knowing programs for men are scarce at such agencies, and that the majority of victims of clergy are male, approached the diocese and secured funding to launch the Silence to Hope Project. The diocese has increased its funding to the project each year, this year giving $80,000.

"In all the groups we have, we have men who have been abused by clergy," Wilken said.

Without counselling, men can bury their memories of the abuse through alcohol, drug addictions or violence, Wilken said. As a probation officer, he knows that 80 per cent of the men in conflict with the law had been sexually abused.

Wilken said every time there is a story about male sexual abuse published in newspapers, he gets inquiries from male victims about Silence to Hope. "The more attention in the media, the more awareness there is, more men will come forward."

He credits the diocese for responding to the need he helped the church hierarchy identify. "It's what happens on the other side of darkness."

Counselling sessions are free to participants. Wilken's book is distributed for free as well, thanks to the financial support of the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness.

"The book isn't designed to make money. It's to help people," Wilken said.

For information about the Silence to Hope project, call 1-877-676-7613.