What is it about?
More and more research shows that individuals with sexual minority identities (i.e., individuals with identities indicative of same-sex attraction like gay, lesbian, bisexual or queer individuals) and gender minority identities (i.e., people whose current gender is different than their gender assigned at birth, like transgender or gender queer people) experience more sexual violence in university contexts. To better understand this risk, we conducted a thematic analysis on sexual and gender minority students' descriptions of their university-based sexual violence experiences. Participants frequently referenced their identities when discussing their sexual violence experiences. In particular, they described how disclosure of their identities caused their sexual violence experiences, and how experiences of sexual violence overlapped with broader homophobia and transphobia. Most importantly, participants who discussed their sexual and gender identities described how these experiences caused them to withdraw from university life.
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Why is it important?
Understanding why and in what contexts sexual and gender minority university students experience higher rates of sexual violence is an essential first step for improving university contexts. These findings suggest the importance of including specific information for sexual and gender minority students in trainings on sexual violence, and for equiping student services that support sexual and gender minority students to help students experiencing sexual violence.
Perspectives
In taking a qualitative approach, we wanted to dig into the increasingly common finding (including some from our own research) of greater risk for sexual violence among sexual and gender minority students. Our findings highlight that many of these students experience sexual violence as one of type of stigma-based violence directed towards sexual and gender minority populations.
Alexa Martin-Storey
Universite de Sherbrooke
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: How sexual and gender minority students discuss sexuality and gender in describing their experiences of sexual violence., Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, June 2022, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/sgd0000577.
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