Sexual violence among male sexual minority college students in Guangdong, China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study aims to provide an estimate of lifetime sexual violence (SV) among male sexual minority college students with differing sexual orientations and contribute to the evidence base on the association between SV experience, stress, and depressive symptoms. The data stemmed from the 2019 Internet Survey on HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health in Colleges and Universities in Guangdong province, China. Lifetime SV victimisation (including non-sexual harassment, physical contact sexual harassment, and rape), level of stress, and depressive symptoms were examined among 1441 male sexual minority students from 37 colleges and universities in Guangdong province. Linear regression analyses were adopted to examine associations between independent variables and depressive symptoms. 23.4% (337/1441) of the participants reported lifetime non-contact harassment, while 8.8% (127/1441) and 2.4% (35/1441) of the participants reported physical contact sexual harassment and rape, respectively. Homosexual students reported the most physical contact sexual harassment (48/127, 37.8%) and bisexual students reported the most non-contact sexual harassment (102/337, 30.3%) and rape (10/35, 28.6%) among sexual minority participants; 85.6% participants reported high levels of stress. The experience of SV and the level of stress were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, and stress completely mediated the path from SV experiences to depressive symptoms. This study specifically showcases SV as a pervasive problem affecting Chinese male sexual minority college students and highlighting the severity of stress and depressive symptoms among this population. These findings emphasise the urgency of implementing effective practices and policies to address SV and depressive symptoms among male sexual minority college students in China.

Knowledge Regarding Sexual Abuse of Selected University Students of Dhaka City

“…In another study conducted in Pakistan revels that, total of 225 instances of sexual abuse, including all types, were reported by respondents, of which 24 occurred too frequently, 35 occurred 10-50 times, and 166 occurred less than ten times [11]. In study conducted in China found that, 24.3% (350/1441) of the students reported having encountered sexual violence; of these, 23.4% (337/1441) had dealt with non-contact Juniper Online Journal of Public Health harassment, 8.8% (127/1441) had dealt with physical contact harassment, and 2.4% (35/1441) had been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives [12]. The probable reason for not getting any data of sexual abuse among the participants is their religious and cultural background.…”

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

“…There are, however, more international studies on sexual violence focused on the GBM population, regardless of the bond between victim and perpetrator. Some of their results report a 35.2% prevalence of non-consensual sex among men who have sex with men [ 21 ], 54.0% prevalence of sexual assault [ 22 ], 15.5% of physical SV, sexual assault, and stalking in the past 6 months [ 23 ], frequencies for sexual assault of 10.1% for cis gay men and 9.5% for cis bisexual men in the past year [ 24 ], 39% lifetime contact sexual violence and 29.2% lifetime non-contact sexual violence for bisexual men and 17.7% and 33.3% for gay men [ 25 ], prevalence of SV reaching 31.64% in gay men and 29.44% in bisexual men [ 26 ]. Although all the studies mentioned above conclude that SV in the GBM population is drastically higher than in heterosexual cissexual men and similar to heterosexual cissexual women, and also that trans people have a higher risk of victimization, the figures differ greatly among them due to a lack of clear delimitation in the concept of sexual violence (e.g., sexual coercion, sexual aggression, unwanted relationships, intimate partner violence, etc.).…”