The Impact of Sexual Orientation on College Student Victimization: An Examination of Sexual Minority and Non-Sexual Minority Student Populations

Abstract

Our research examines the possible association of sexual orientation and self-reported sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner psychological abuse, and intimate partner physical abuse of college students from a northeastern university in the United States. Understanding the prevalence of these behaviors within this age group is important, as developing appropriate college policy to reduce these actions at this time may be beneficial for future prevention. This study also allows for one of the few true comparisons between those students who identified as sexual minority and non-sexual minority college students 1 . A total of 1881 college students were surveyed. Classes were randomly selected and surveys were administered to students in those classes. Gender specific models were also analyzed to examine if the relationship between sexual orientation and victimization differs for males and females. The results from the analyses support the prediction that sexual minority students were more likely to report all four types of victimization than non-sexual minority students. Sexual minority students were about four times more likely to report sexual assault, two times more likely to report sexual harassment and physical abuse, and about 1.5 times more likely to report psychological abuse. Sexual minority males were more likely to report sexual assault (nine times), sexual harassment (3.5 times), and physical abuse (twice as likely). Sexual minority females were about twice as likely to report sexual assault, physical abuse, and psychological abuse.

Campus-Level Variation in the Prevalence of Student Experiences of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence

“…For example, Porter and Williams (2011) found that Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and sexual-minority students were more likely to experience physical and psychological abuse, and sexual minorities and racial minorities were more likely to experience sexual abuse in relationships than majority group members. In a study of college students, Beaulieu, Dunton, Williams, and Porter (2017) found that sexual-minority students were twice as likely to experience intimate partner physical abuse and 1.5 times more likely to experience psychological abuse from an intimate partner than students who did not identify as a sexual minority. This is consistent with other study findings that sexual-minority students are more likely to experience various forms of dating violence (Edwards et al, 2015).…”

Person- and Incident-Level Predictors of Blame, Disclosure, and Reporting to Authorities in Rape Scenarios

“…Correspondingly, it is plausible that heterosexual male victims may be least likely to report being raped, especially to the extent that they adhere to more traditional masculine gender role ideologies. However, both heterosexual men and woman are likelier to support traditional gender roles than their sexual minority counterparts (Kachel, Steffens, & Niedlich, 2016), which may also account for why the latter are more likely than the former to report various forms of sexual assault (Beaulieu, Dunton, McQuiller Williams, & Porter, 2017). Currently, there is very little research exploring whether stronger adherence to these belief systems influence disclosure rates or whether this may account for why being heterosexual and/or male associates with a decreased likelihood of reporting having been raped.…”

Qualitative exploration of perceptions of sexual assault and associated consequences among LGBTQ+ college students.

“…LGBTQ+ college students also experience an elevated risk of sexual assault in relation to their heterosexual and cisgender peers (Cantor et al, 2017; Smith et al, 2016). Students who identify as sexual minority men are over nine times as likely to have experienced sexual assault as heterosexual male students, and students who identify as sexual minority women are over twice as likely as heterosexual female students to have been sexually assaulted in the past year (Beaulieu et al, 2017). Identifying as a gay man, bisexual, or questioning is associated with greater sexual assault victimization odds (Coulter et al, 2017; Johnson et al, 2016).…”

“…Identifying as a gay man, bisexual, or questioning is associated with greater sexual assault victimization odds (Coulter et al, 2017; Johnson et al, 2016). Transgender college students also face higher rates of sexual assault victimization than cisgender students (Beaulieu et al, 2017; Cantor et al, 2017; Coulter et al, 2017; Johnson et al, 2016). Further, racial and ethnic identity is a risk factor for some groups of LGBTQ+ people of color, notably for men students of color (Beaulieu et al, 2017) and Black transgender students (Coulter et al, 2017).…”