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CDC Releases Data on Interpersonal and Sexual Violence by Sexual Orientation

CDC Releases Data on Interpersonal and Sexual Violence by Sexual Orientation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released the first of its kind report on the national prevalence of intimate partner violence, sexual violence and stalking victimization by respondents’ sexual orientation. This report highlights the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual violence (SV), and stalking of respondents who self-identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual at the time of the survey and describe violence experienced with both same-sex and opposite-sex partners, using 2010 data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS).

NISVS is designed to better describe and understand the level of IPV, SV, and stalking victimization in the United States. NISVS includes behavior-specific questions that assess IPV, SV, and stalking victimization over the lifetime and during the 12 months prior to the interview.

Key findings show:

• The majority of women who reported experiencing sexual violence, regardless of their sexual orientation, reported that they were victimized by male perpetrators.

• Nearly half of female bisexual victims (48.2 percent) and more than one-quarter of female heterosexual victims (28.3 percent) experienced their first rape between the ages of 11 and 17 years.

• Bisexual women (61.1%) reported a significantly higher lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner when compared to both lesbian (43.8%) and heterosexual women (35.0%).

• Lesbians and gay men reported levels of IPV and SV equal to or higher than those of heterosexuals.

“These data reinforce the heavy toll that these forms of violence place on men and women in this country, regardless of sexual orientation,” said Howard Spivak, MD, director of CDC’s Injury Center Division of Violence Prevention.  “While intervening and providing services are important, so is prevention. Those efforts need to begin early in life, with the ultimate goal of preventing all of these types of violence before they occur.”

NISVS provides data that can help inform policies and programs aimed at the specific needs of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) communities, state and national organizations, and can also be used to monitor and measure the effectiveness of these efforts.  The combined efforts of public health, criminal justice, service providers, and other stakeholders can improve our knowledge about IPV, SV, and stalking in LGB communities and improve the availability of prevention programs and services for those affected by violence.

The report is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/NISVS/SpecialReports.html