Sexual assault of LGBT persons

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Sexual assault awareness is represented by the color teal.

Sexual Assault of LGBT individuals 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. 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.

Definition

There are varying definitions as to what sexual assault is defined as. According to the United States Department of Justice:

"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 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 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 rap, 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 done 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%.

Underlying issues, myths, and misconceptions

The underlying issues of sexual assault against LGBT persons includes homophobia and transphobia among other forms of prejudice against sexual minorities. These forms of prejudice end up creating unsafe spaces for LGBT persons where they do not feel comfortable expressing themselves or do not feel safe living as their authentic self.

According to the Pride Resource Center at Colorado State University, homophobia is defined as:

"Homophobia is a pervasive, irrational fear of homosexuality. Homophobia includes the fear heterosexuals have of any homosexual feelings within themselves, any overt mannerisms or actions that would suggest homosexuality, and the resulting desire to suppress or stamp out homosexuality. And it also includes the self-hatred and self-denial of homosexuals who know what they are but have been taught all their lives by a heterosexual society that people like themselves are sick, sinful and criminal.”

According to Planned Parenthood, transphobia is defined as:

"Transphobia is the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender, thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles. Transphobia can prevent transgender and gender nonconforming people from living full lives free from harm."

These phobias, as well as myths centered around LGBT individuals, influence a culture that holds back persons from identifying how they choose and places them into a binary that doesn't encompass all possible ways of identifying. One of the main myths that can harm LGBT individuals is the idea that they have not met the right guy/girl yet. This perpetuates heterosexism and denies the possibility of one having attraction to the same gender.

One of the biggest misconceptions that comes out of transphobia centers around the use of bathrooms. Made popular by North Carolina's "Bathroom Bill", it brought up the concern that by allowing individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender they identify as, predators could easily enter bathrooms and take advantage of individuals claiming that they identify as the gender the bathroom is. Legislation, such as House Bill 2, only perpetuate the discrimination of transgender individuals, rather than give them support to live their lives as the gender by which they identify. Laws have always existed that prohibit individuals from entering bathrooms with the purpose of harming others.

Organizations and resources

• The Human Rights Campaign is an organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT individuals as well as provides education to the public sphere regarding LGBT rights.
• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) provides 24/7 national hotline that can be called, as well as an online chat hotline. As well, they provide a hotline for survivors of sexual assault as well as loved ones who are in the Department of Defense community.
• The National Sexual Violence Resource Center helps to educate about sexual assault
• GLAAD helps to promote the acceptance and visibility of LGBT persons through the media.
• The LGBT National Help Center offers a hotline providing support to sexual minorities. There three hotlines serve youth, adults, and senior LGBT individuals.
• The Joyful Heart Foundation, founded by Mariska Hargitary,is dedicated to ending sexual assault as well as domestic violence and child abuse through education and advocacy.
• The Crisis Text Line is a free service that persons can text to 24/7 who are in need of support. Persons are connected to trained crisis volunteers who help to provide coping mechanisms and skills to get out of a crisis situation in the moment.
• Various states and localities offer 24/7 hotline or other resources to survivors of sexual assault. A list of state resources is listed on the RAINN website.