LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences and Perceptions of Sexual Violence

<p>There has been limited research on the experiences and perceptions of sexual violence with people from sexuality and gender diverse communities (or LGBTQ+ people) in NSW and indeed across Australia, largely because of being historically overlooked or excluded as a priority population. </p><p>This is starting to change, and there is now a growing body of literature that documents the prevalence of sexual violence amongst LGBTQ+ people. For example, Private Lives 3, a national LGBTIQ+ community health study, found that almost half of participants (48.6%, n=3,314) had experienced sexual violence in their life (Hill, Bourne, McNair, Carman, & Lyons, 2020). Data from Private Lives 3 and other national studies such as the 2018 Australian Trans and Gender Diverse Sexual Health Survey (Callander, et al., 2019) reveal that bisexual people and trans people (binary and non-binary) experience particularly high rates of sexual violence.. </p><p>While we have increasingly clear evidence of the prevalence of sexual violence in LGBTQ+ communities, there is still comparatively little known about LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of sexual violence, or about LGBTQ+ people’s perceptions and understandings of sexual violence that occurs within their communities. This report aims to build the evidence base to explore the contexts in which LGBTQ+ people experience sexual violence, their experiences disclosing and seeking support, and the impacts of sexual violence. The report also looks at how LGBTQ+ people understand and perceive sexual violence occurring within their communities, and their readiness to respond to this.. </p><p>The findings from this project will directly inform ACON’s work in preventing sexual violence and supporting LGBTQ+ victim-survivors. This research also aims to influence NSW policy and practice in the sexual violence space more broadly..</p>