RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC -- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are at high risk for being victims of physical and sexual assault, harassment, bullying, and hate crimes, according to a new study by RTI International.
In a newly published report, funded by RTI, RTI researchers analyzed 20 years' worth of published studies on violence and the LGBTQ+ community, which included 102 peer-reviewed papers as well as a few unpublished analyses and non-peer-reviewed papers. With The Henne Group, RTI also carried out a series of focus-group discussions with LGBTQ+ communities in San Francisco; New York City; Durham, North Carolina; and rural Wyoming.
"Our research indicates that LGBTQ+ people face significant danger in their daily lives - and that their victimization affects their education, safety, and health," said Tasseli McKay, a social scientist at RTI and the study's lead author.
The researchers found that in a range of studies with LGBTQ+ individuals, victimization experiences are clearly and consistently correlated with behavioral health conditions and suicidality, sexual risk-taking and HIV status, other long-term physical health issues, and decreased school involvement and achievement. Such effects are often sustained many years after a victimization event.
The focus groups touched on a variety of topics including bullying, hate crimes, harassment and violence.
A transgender participant in a focus group held in Durham, North Carolina said, "Once you've been read as being a trans person, you check out, they check out. For us it's safety. For them, it's discomfort. It's a heightened stigmatization."
Other key findings from the report include:
Despite a public perception of greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals in present-day society, disparities in victimization have remained the same or increased since the 1990s.
Schools are a special concern. Many LGBTQ+ youth reported being afraid or feeling unsafe at school, and school-based victimization of LGBTQ+ youth was associated with decreased school attendance, poorer school performance, and steeply increased risk of suicide attempts.
Contradicting the common perception of hate-related victimization as being committed by strangers or acquaintances, LGBTQ+ people are often victimized by close family members, particularly their own parents and, for bisexual women, their male partners."We need more research to better understand what policies will provide LGBTQ+ youth with safer school and home environments, what resources provide LGBTQ+ people who are victims of violence the best support and how we can ultimately create a larger societal climate that doesn't tolerate persistent, pervasive, lifelong victimization," McKay said.
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