Sexual assault of LGBT persons

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Sexual assault awareness is represented by the color teal.^[1]

Sexual assault of LGBT people is a form of violence that occurs within the LGBT community. While sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence can occur in all forms of relationships, it is found that sexual minorities experience it at rates that are equal to or higher than their heterosexual counterparts.^[2] There is a lack of research on this specific problem for the LGBT population as a whole, but there does exist a substantial amount of research on college LGBT students who have experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Definition[]

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.

Statistics[]

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, also known as RAINN, puts out general statistics^[4] of sexual assault, including:

• Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.
• 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted.

According to a 2010 findings^[5] on The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it concluded that:

• For Lesbian women:
  • 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 Gay men:
  • 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.
• Bisexual Women:
  • 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.
• Bisexual Men:
  • 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 a paper by Emily Rothman, Deinera Exner, and Allyson Baughman, it was found that, 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%.^[6]

Underlying issues, myths, and misconceptions[]

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The underlying issues of sexual assault against LGBT persons includes homophobia and transphobia among other forms of prejudice against sexual minorities.^[7]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Kiss, Ligia; Quinlan-Davidson, Meaghen; Pasquero, Laura; Tejero, Patricia Ollé; Hogg, Charu; Theis, Joachim; Park, Andrew; Zimmerman, Cathy; Hossain, Mazeda (2020). "Male and LGBT survivors of sexual violence in conflict situations: a realist review of health interventions in low-and middle-income countries". Conflict and Health. 14 (1): 11. doi:10.1186/s13031-020-0254-5. ISSN 1752-1505.
• Felix, Shanna N. (29 October 2020). "Deconstructing the LGBT-Victimization Association: The Case of Sexual Assault and Alcohol-Related Problems". Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. Retrieved 6 October 2021.