Additionally, 17% of respondents who stayed at one or more homeless shelters in the past year were sexually assaulted at the shelter because they were transgender Transgender Survey found that one in five (20%) respondents who were incarcerated in jail, prison, or juvenile detention in the past year were sexually assaulted by facility staff during that time. Nearly half (48 percent) of bisexual women who are rape survivors experienced their first rape between ages 11 and 17.įor LGBTQ survivors of sexual assault, their identities – and the discrimination they face surrounding those identities – often make them hesitant to seek help from police, hospitals, shelters or rape crisis centers, the very resources that are supposed to help them.Ĩ5 percent of victim advocates surveyed by the NCAVP reported having worked with an LGBTQ survivor who was denied services because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Transgender Survey were most likely to have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime Transgender Survey found that 47% of transgender people are sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime.Īmong people of color, American Indian (65%), multiracial (59%), Middle Eastern (58%) and Black (53%) respondents of the 2015 U.S. Among both of these populations, sexual violence begins early, often during childhood. Within the LGBTQ community, transgender people and bisexual women face the most alarming rates of sexual violence.
The CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found for LGB people:Ĥ4 percent of lesbians and 61 percent of bisexual women experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 35 percent of straight womenĢ6 percent of gay men and 37 percent of bisexual men experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, compared to 29 percent of straight menĤ6 percent of bisexual women have been raped, compared to 17 percent of straight women and 13 percent of lesbiansĢ2 percent of bisexual women have been raped by an intimate partner, compared to 9 percent of straight womenĤ0 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape, compared to 21 percent of straight men Yet, as a community, we rarely talk about how sexual violence affects us or what our community’s unique needs are when it comes to preventing sexual assault and supporting and caring for survivors of sexual violence. Moreover, the ways in which society both hypersexualizes LGBTQ people and stigmatizes our relationships can lead to intimate partner violence that stems from internalized homophobia and shame. We also face higher rates of hate-motivated violence, which can often take the form of sexual assault. Studies suggest that around half of transgender people and bisexual women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes.Īs a community, LGBTQ people face higher rates of poverty, stigma, and marginalization, which put us at greater risk for sexual assault.
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects (NCAVP) estimates that nearly one in ten LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) has experienced sexual assault from those partners.