Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Victimization among Gay and Bisexual Men: A Preliminary Study in Spain

Abstract

Sexual violence is an understudied issue in the population of gay and bisexual men, although the existing articles to date demonstrate that it is a problem that merits public attention. This study aims to approach the problem of invisibility around the matter, as well as presenting a number of variables that have been usually overlooked in Spanish research or have not been assessed at all. Lifetime sexual victimization, sociodemographic characteristics, situational characteristics and social support were examined among 550 gay and bisexual males living in Spain using a self-administrated questionnaire. Results analysis show that 90.00% (87.18–92.38%) of participants reported at least one experience of unwanted insinuation, 87.27% (84.19–89.94%) reported at least one experience of sexual coercion, 64.00% (59.83–68.02%) reported at least one experience of sexual assault, and specifically 19.82% (16.57–23.40%) reported being raped during their lifetime. Significant differences have been found between some categories regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, age, race/ethnicity and educational level. Overall, these results showcase sexual violence as a pervasive problem in the Spanish gay and bisexual community.

Keywords

• sexual violence
• intimate partner violence
• gay
• bisexual
• transsexual
• victimization