Sexual Violence Perpetration and Victimization: Providing Prevalence Rates for Understudied Populations

Sexual violence research has been subjected to gender and heteronormative biases. It has been customary to focus on men as perpetrators and women as victims and to exclude sexual and gender minorities from protocols, which has led some demographic groups to be underrepresented. This article aimed to (1) provide prevalence rates for sexual violence perpetration and victimization in understudied populations, and (2) compare rates recorded by these understudied populations to a heterosexual men reference group for perpetration and a heterosexual women reference group for sexual victimization. A sample of 1796 individuals (age 16-83) representing diverse gender identities and sexual orientations completed modified, gender-inclusive versions of the Sexual Experiences Survey-Tactics first Perpetration and Victimization. Results indicate that (1) heterosexual men, transgender/nonbinary individuals, homosexual women, non-monosexual women, and homosexual men registered perpetration rates over 30%; (2) non-monosexual and heterosexual women recorded the highest rates of sexual victimization; (3) heterosexual men reported statistically higher rates of perpetration and lower rates of victimization than heterosexual women; (4) sexual and gender minorities reported perpetration rates that are statistically equivalent to heterosexual men and victimization rates that are statistically equivalent to heterosexual women; and (5) verbal coercion was the most commonly used strategy by all subgroups. Findings suggest the need for prevention programs to target perpetration by all genders and behaviors outside of the traditional rape script, for victims' resources to be welcoming of men and sexual and gender minorities, and for efforts to be made in research to limit gender and heteronormative biases.