Sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

of LGBT people is a form of violence against people in the LGBT community or

sexual and gender minorities Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) comprise individuals whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or gender identity differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Sexual minorities include lesbians, gay men, bisexual peo ...

(SGM). While sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence can occur in all forms of relationships,

sexual minorities Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) comprise individuals whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or gender identity differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Sexual minorities include lesbians, gay men, bisexual peo ...

experience it at rates that are equal to or higher than their

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

and

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

counterparts. 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 The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

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 websit
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 Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...

world. Prejudice and discrimination experienced by SGM populations contribute to their experience of

minority stress Minority stress describes high levels of stress faced by members of stigmatized minority groups. It may be caused by a number of factors, including poor social support and low socioeconomic status; well understood causes of minority stress are ...

. Minority stress posits that

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

and discrimination against SGM populations cause and maintain health disparities. SGM victims are less likely than heterosexual victims to find formal refuge from sexual violence and receive appropriate care due to historical biases in legislation and

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

shelters tailoring their services towards

and heterosexual female victims. Despite the influence of group coalitions led by women of color,

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

women, and transgender survivors in activism against sexual assault, the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6billion toward investigat ...

(VAWA) of 1994 centered a monolithic approach to supporting survivors, primarily who were white heterosexual cisgender women, and took a carceral approach to funding DV shelters (i.e., required survivors to report abusers to law enforcement in order to receive shelter). A systemic review stated that in 2011, 61% of SGM reported being turned away by domestic violence (DV) shelters. Although in 2013 the Violence Against Women Act explicitly barred discrimination on basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, no follow up research has been done to assess the compliance of DV shelters. The VAWA became so linked to law enforcement involvement, it did not match the approach to accountability and care desired by survivors holding marginalized

intersectional Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

identities whom have mistrust of law enforcement. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Statistics

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, institutionalized racism within the criminal legal system and accounts of police brutality make it less likely for SGM victims to involve the criminal legal system in the aftermath of sexual assault. Reluctance to involve the legal system is particularly true for victims of color and sex workers. Within prisons, incarcerated

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

(38%) and bisexual (33.7%) men are more likely than heterosexual men (3.5%) to be sexually violated by other inmates. Gay (11.8%) and

bisexual men Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

(17.5%) were sexually assaulted by prison staff compared to heterosexual men (5.2%). A different pattern is observed among incarcerated women. Incarcerated

bisexual women Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction to ...

(18.1%) are at a higher risk for sexual violation by other inmates than

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

(12.1%) and heterosexual (13.1%) women. Compared to incarcerated heterosexual women, both lesbian and bisexual women are at higher risk for sexual violence victimization by prison staff. Transgender people are at a higher risk of sexual victimization within prisons compared to cisgender inmates. Transgender women incarcerated in men's prisons are at high risk of sexual violence.

Sexual minorities

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. Additionally, sexual minorities are more likely to be sexually assaulted while being incapacitated from substance use than heterosexuals. * Bisexual women (46.1%) experience sexual assault at higher rates than lesbian (13.1%) and heterosexual (17.1%) women. * Among men, gay (40.2%) and bisexual (47.4%) men are twice as likely as heterosexual men (20.8%) to experience sexual abuse. * 43.5% of asexual individuals have reported

revictimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the state or process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer ...

of sexual assault. According to a 2010 findings o
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
put out by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

, the CDC concluded that: * For American lesbian women (118 lesbian women completed the survey): ** 44% experienced rape, physical violence, and/or

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

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): ** 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): ** 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): ** 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. 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. 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.

Gender minorities

Gender minorities are at high risk for sexual assault. Transgender and gender-diverse individuals experience high rates of sexual assault; however, there are mixed reports about whether

transgender women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

transgender men A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

experience more rates of sexual victimization. A meta-analysis suggested that transgender men (51%) and

assigned female at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the ...

(AFAB)

nonbinary Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differe ...

(58%) individuals are sexually victimized at higher rates than transgender women (37%) and

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the v ...

(AMAB) nonbinary (41%) individuals. The

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline ...

, also known as

RAINN The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline ...

found that 21% of TGQN (transgender,

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted.

SGM child sexual assault

Research also suggests that SGM youth are often targeted for childhood sexual assault. Among American transgender youth, restricted access to gendered facilities in schools (such as

bathrooms A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts thereof. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink (also known as a wash basin in the United Kingdom). A toilet is al ...

and locker rooms) increased their likelihood of sexual harassment and sexual victimization by peers.

Obstacles preventing LGBT+ people from reporting assault

General obstacles

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. Many also fear being

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia in order to discredit politi ...

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. The underlying issues of sexual assault against LGBT persons includes homophobia and transphobia among other forms of prejudice against sexual minorities. One barrier to help-seeking research has found for LGBTQIA+ victims of sexual assault has been the minimization of their experience. Minimization refers to downplaying of the implications and consequences of sexual assault by either the victim or individuals whom they tell about the assault. A risk factor for sexual violence and IPV in same-sex relationships include homophobic stigma and internalized homophobic stigma. Common

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

assume that sexual violence is only experienced in heterosexual dynamics and that all same-sex relationships are

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

. Discrimination towards SGM may lead some individuals to conceal their sexual and gender orientation from those in their circle (i.e., family, friends, co-workers, etc.). SGM's decisions to conceal one's sexual or gender identity are known to be weaponized by same-sex partner's through "homophobic controlling behaviors," the act of threatening to disclose their partner's sexual orientation as a form of sexual coercion and emotional abuse. Some research has suggested that bisexual women are hypersexualized and targeted for sexual violence. Additionally, stigmas held within

hypermasculine Hypermasculinity is a psychological and sociological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and human male sexuality. In the field of clinical psychology, this term has be ...

cultures associate femininity with weakness and submission often motivate sexual violence towards transgender women and cisgender women.

Transgender people

Transgender people and other gender minorities (non-binary people, etc.) are over four times more likely to experience sexual violence with one in two transgender people experiencing some form of sexual abuse or assault in their lives (about 47% of transgender people) 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 Cisnormativity or cissexual assumption is the assumption that everyone is, or ought to be, cisgender. The term can further refer to a wider range of presumptions about gender assignment, such as the presumption of a gender binary, or expectatio ...

and transphobia. 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. In regard to self-disclosure type (i.e., lifetime, child sexual assault,

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

-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. 59% of gay and bisexual men disclose experiencing childhood sexual abuse. 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. Social responses to disclosure can potentially buffer or exacerbate (i.e., retraumatization) negative outcomes following sexual assault. Among SGM survivors, negative social response to self-disclosure of sexual assault relates to increased risk for

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

and higher levels of distress. SGM survivors disclosing to formal sources are more likely to receive negative social responses than when disclosing to informal sources. 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.