Comparisons of Sexual Victimization Experiences among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Women

This study examined the associations among heterosexual women (HW) and sexual minority women (SMW; for example, lesbian and bisexual), adolescent and adult sexual victimization experiences, childhood experiences of abuse, coping strategies, and mental health symptoms. Participants were 177 women recruited across the United States via the Internet to complete an online survey. Participants first completed the Sexual Experiences Survey and then described qualitatively their most distressing and/or severe sexual victimization experience. They were asked to include situational (e.g., location, alcohol, and drug use) and interpersonal features (e.g., relationship to perpetrator) of their experience. They then completed self-report questionnaires on childhood sexual abuse, coping with substances, coping through self-blame, social reactions to their assault disclosure, and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization. Nonparametric tests were used to examine associations among the variables. There were no significant differences between SMW and HW in terms of the contextual features (i.e., situational, interpersonal) of their most distressing (i.e., severe) sexual victimization experiences or their postassault experiences. However, results revealed significant associations between sexual minority status and both victimization severity and sexual revictimization, with SMW reporting more severe victimization histories and higher rates of sexual revictimization relative to HW. In addition, there was a significant difference between SMW and HW with respect to coping through substances, with SMW reporting more substance use relative to HW. Future work should endeavor to identify the reasons for these important differences and seek to develop appropriate interventions for SMW who have experienced sexual violence.