It is estimated that nearly half of transgender and nonbinary (trans/NB) people will experience sexual assault in their lifetime. And yet, beyond prevalence, “little else is known about the general context in which sexual assault occurs in this community”, noted a group of researchers who wanted to specifically look at “whether and to whom trans/NB people report these experiences”, particularly “the contextual factors regarding trans/NB people’s sexual assault experiences.”
In a study – “Descriptive Data of Transgender and Nonbinary People’s Experiences of Sexual Assault: Context, Perpetrator Characteristics, and Reporting Behaviors” bySasha N. Canan, Jesse Denniston-Lee, and Kristen N. Jozkowski – that appeared in LGBT Health, it was found that up to 80% of trans/NB people experienced sexual assault, and yet not all report what happened to them. This is “similar to findings in the broader, typically cis-centric, sexual assault literature,” the researchers stated.
For this study, the researchers used a cross-sectional online survey, assessing sexual assault prevalence rates, contextual details, and reporting behaviors in a sample of 230 trans/NB adults in the US. Data were gathered in 2016 and 2017 across two collections.
Some of the findings include:
- 80% of the sample had experienced sexual assault
- 62% reported experiencing completed penetrative behaviors (rape) and 37% reported repeat victimization (assault during both childhood and adulthood)
- Most participants indicated that their perpetrator was male (80%) and the plurality described perpetrators as dating partners (34%) or acquaintances (34%)
- Alcohol was involved in 26% of assaults
- Approximately 8% characterized the event as a hate crime
- Most trans/NB people reported their experience to a friend (64%), dating partner (50%), and/or therapist (35%)
- Only 6% reported their sexual assault to the police, and 20% stated that they have never told anyone
“With the exception of substantially higher prevalence rates, many of our findings are similar to findings in the broader, typically cis-centric, sexual assault literature,” the researchers stated.
For the researchers, therefore, “we recommend that prevention and support services address both the high rates of sexual assault and the low rates of reporting to police and other support services.”
