LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences and Perceptions of Sexual Violence

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.

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..

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..

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..