Injuries/Violence
Prevalence and Risk for Sexual and Dating Violence among LGBTQ+ Youth in California Sabrina C. Boyce* Sabrina C. Boyce Emma Jackson Riley Saham Ricardo Vera Monroy Jay G. Silverman
LGBTQ+ youth experience disproportionately high risk for sexual violence (SV) and dating violence (DV), with more severe outcomes than heterosexual, cisgender youth. Yet, there are major gaps in measurement of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in nationally representative samples that limit understanding of the diversity of LGBTQ+ youth’s experiences of violence and therefore, tailored prevention. This analysis addresses this gap by providing one of the first population-based estimates of how SV/DV risk varies within subgroups of LGBTQ+ youth. Cross-sectional data were collected from a census sample of 9,731 9th and 11th grade high school students from five school districts in Central and Southern California that voluntarily participated in the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and an additional SV/DV module during 2021-2022. Descriptive analyses were carried out to estimate the prevalence of each form of SV/DV for each LGBTQ+ subgroup. Bivariate and multivariate analyses provided estimates for the relative risk of violence across 18 LGBTQ+ subgroups based on intersections of SOGI. In this sample, 23.8% and 15.3% of LGBTQ+ youth report SV and DV, respectively, in the past 12 months. For SV, nonbinary youth, transgender boys, transgender girls, and cisgender girls who identify as pansexual and bisexual experience significantly higher risk relative to heterosexual cisgender girls, a group know to experience higher risk for SV/DV relative to heterosexual cisgender boys. For DV, bisexual and pansexual cisgender girls and nonbinary youth, and transgender boys experience significantly higher risk, relative to heterosexual cisgender girls. For both SV and DV, cisgender heterosexual boys experience significantly lower risk. Results from this study suggest that nonbinary and transgender youth, and cisgender girls who identify as pansexual and bisexual have the highest need for SV/DV prevention and support among LGBTQ+ youth.