Sexual assault of LGBT persons

There are varying definitions as to what sexual assault is defined as. According to the United States Department of Justice:^[3]

The term "sexual assault" means any nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent.

Definitions and laws of sexual assault vary from state to state. The website FindLaw allows users to click on their corresponding to state to read about how their state defines what sexual assault is, as well as what laws and limitations exist. Sexual assault of LGBT individuals refers to the act of sexual violence against persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender amongst other sexualities and sexual minorities.

Social constructive theories

Sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people, also known as Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM), occurs within the context of a misogynistic, homophobic^[4][5] and transphobic world.^[6][7] Prejudice and discrimination experienced by SGM populations contribute to their experience of minority stress.

Minority stress posits that

Additionally, older research on DV shelters have demonstrated a lack of competence and attunement to servicing SGM survivors, which often perpetuated harm towards these communities.[7] Systemic erasure of SGM denies victims services that take into account their unique experiences with interpersonal and systemic harm and adds to their minority stress.^{[5][6][7][9][10]} Minority stress also relates to intersectionality. The theory of intersectionality explores how varied identities held by an individual (i.e., race, SES, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.) may interact with one another within a given social and political context.^[5][11] The nature of the sexual assault is shaped by the way intersecting identities interact with their social context, often shaping the nature of the sexual assault, the outcomes, and access to services post-assault.^[7][9][12] For example, African American women experience high rates of sexual assault, often relating to the historic stigmatization and fetishization of African American women sexuality, however, research shows they are less likely to disclose survivorship and seek out support due to stigma.^[13]

Statistics

The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with USA and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Intersectionality within U.S. statistics

Discussions on sexual assault have often ignored intersectionality and primarily focused on heterosexual dynamics, much less has been explored on how sexual assault is experienced among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) and the intersections of marginalized identities (i.e., race, gender, incarcerated, SES, etc.).

Incarcerated SGM

For example,

Within the general sexual minority, population research has consistently shown that bisexuals experience sexual assault more commonly throughout their lifetime than gay and lesbian people.[10]^[12][15] Additionally, sexual minorities are more likely to be sexually assaulted while being incapacitated from substance use than heterosexuals.^[12]

• Bisexual women (46.1%) experience sexual assault at higher rates than lesbian (13.1%) and heterosexual (17.1%) women.^[12]
• Among men, gay (40.2%) and bisexual (47.4%) men are twice as likely as heterosexual men (20.8%) to experience sexual abuse.^[12]
• 43.5% of asexual individuals have reported
  revictimization of sexual assault.^[12]

According to a 2010 findings[2] on The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC concluded that:

• For American lesbian women (118 lesbian women completed the survey):^[2]
  • 44% experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  • Approximately 1 in 8 (13%) have been raped in their lifetime.
• For American gay men (148 gay men completed the survey):^[2]
  • 26% experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  • 4 in 10 (40%) have experienced sexual violence other than rape in their lifetime.
• For American bisexual women (199 bisexual women completed the survey):^[2]
  • 61% experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime.
  • 1 in 5 (22%) have been raped by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  • 46% have been raped in their lifetime.
• For American bisexual men (96 bisexual men completed the survey):^[2]
  • 37% experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
  • 47% have experienced sexual violence other than rape in their lifetime.

In regard to lifetime sexual assault victimization, the estimated prevalence for lesbian and bisexual women was approximately 12.6 - 85%. For gay and bisexual men, it was 11.8-54.0%. Their paper used data from 75 different studies on lifetime sexual assault victimization in the United States.^[15] Research also shows that among self-identified lesbians in same-sex relationships sexual violence is the least common form of intimate partner violence, followed by physical violence, and psychological/emotional violence is the most prevalent.^[4] The previous findings emphasize the fact that sexual violence and its outcomes are influenced by the intersecting identities held by victims, and as a result, the prevalence and manifestation vary across intersecting identities.^[5][9][15]

Gender minorities

Gender minorities are at high risk for sexual assault.

Despite facing a higher rates of sexual assault than heterosexual and cisgender people, members of the LGBTQ+ community do not report sexual assault as much. Many are afraid of mistreatment due to their sexual or gender orientation, with 85% of victim advocates stating that LGBTQ+ victims they have worked with have been denied services due to their identities.[18] Many also fear being outed in the process of reporting assault.

Stigma and stereotypes

Aside from systemic influence, minority stress also manifests in the form of stigma, stereotypes, and discrimination that shape the nature of sexual violence.

Transgender people and other gender minorities (non-binary people, etc.) are over four times more likely to experience sexual violence[23] with one in two transgender people experiencing some form of sexual abuse or assault in their lives^[24] (about 47% of transgender people^[25]) than their cisgender counterparts. This number only increases for gender minorities of colour, that do sex work, are homeless, and have disabilities. About 57% of these victims, however, have reported feeling uncomfortable reporting their assaults to the authorities, and 58% reported mistreatment by law enforcement, including but not limited to misgendering and verbal, physical, and further sexual assault.

According to scholars Adam M. Messinger, Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz, sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) against transgender people is distinct because of two societal norms: cisnormativity and transphobia.^[26] They expand upon this in their book, Transgender Intimate Partner Violence, where cisnormativity is defined as "the expectation that all people are cisgender, along with the privileging of cisgender experience and the pathologizing of transgender experience," and transphobia as "a strong dislike of or fear of transgender people." They argue that cisnormativity and transphobia put transgender people in a more vulnerable position that leads to more assault and IPV. Using a case study of a transgender boy referred to as Joe, Messinger and Guadalupe-Diaz state that Joe was too afraid to go to the police for assault and IPV for fear of being invalidated as a male victim, being discriminated against for being transgender, and for fear that the police would arrest him instead of his abuser, something that happens to transgender people more frequently than their cisgender counterparts due to a stereotype that transgender people are more violent or sexual.

Survivorship self-disclosure

Self-disclosure on sexual violence varies across SGM.^[10][14][15] In regard to self-disclosure type (i.e., lifetime, child sexual assault, hate crime related sexual assault), lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to report lifetime experiences of sexual violence and intimate partner sexual violence compared to gay and bisexual men. Gay and bisexual men are more likely than lesbian and bisexual women to disclose sexual violence victimization as a hate crime.^[15] 59% of gay and bisexual men disclose experiencing childhood sexual abuse.^[15]

Another facet of the disclosure includes the source type or the source to which the survivor divulges their sexual assault. SGM survivors more frequently disclose their SA experience to informal sources (i.e., family, friends, peers, partners, etc.) than formal sources (i.e., police, doctors, therapists, etc.); this is often related to individual and institutionalized stigma & discrimination.^[10][12][14]

Social responses to disclosure can potentially buffer or exacerbate (i.e., retraumatization) negative outcomes following sexual assault.^[10][12] Among SGM survivors, negative social response to self-disclosure of sexual assault relates to increased risk for PTSD and higher levels of distress.^[12] SGM survivors disclosing to formal sources are more likely to receive negative social responses than when disclosing to informal sources.^[12] Research shows that SGM survivors are met with mixed social responses to their sexual assault disclosure. Notably, bisexual women more commonly experience negative social reactions to their SA disclosure when compared to non-SGM women, and a similar parallel exists among transgender survivors when compared to cisgender.^[10][12]

References