Examining Risk for Sexual Victimization among Heterosexual and Non-Heterosexual Women

• In Event: Victimization: Issues of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality

Abstract

Compared to their heterosexual counterparts, research finds higher rates of sexual victimization among those who identify as non-heterosexual (Canan et al., 2019; Bender & Lauritsen, 2021). Using a minority stress lens (Myers, 2003), this study examines factors associated with sexual victimization risk using data from 584 (49 non-heterosexual and 535 heterosexual) women’s online self-report surveys. Two-hundred and thirty (39%) women reported a non-consensual sexual experience (NSEI; Kilimnik & Meston, 2018). Chi-square test revealed a higher percentage of non-heterosexual women (61.2%) experienced non-consensual sex than their straight counterparts (37.4%). A logistic regression model explained 17.9% of the pseudo R2 and showed that while sexual orientation was significant in the first step, the inclusion of impulsivity, risky behavior, and vulnerability factors rendered the effect non-significant. In the final step, impulsivity (UPPS; Whiteside & Lynam, 2001) was unrelated to victimization, whereas risk factors including risky sex and drug use (CARE; Fromme & Katz, 1997) and vulnerability factors specifically poor mental health (SF- 36 – Friedman et al., 2005), maladaptive coping (COPE; Carver, 1997), and posttraumatic sexual behavior (PTSBI-W; Ménard et al., 2022) were associated with increased odds of sexual victimization, suggesting beyond risky behavior, vulnerability plays an important role in non-heterosexual’s victimization.

Author

• Kim Menard, Penn State Altoona