Sexual Minority High School Boys' and Girls' Risk of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Bullying
Mennicke, A.; Bush, H.M.; Brancato, C.; Coker, A.L.
Violence Against Women 27(9): 1361-1378
2021
ISSN/ISBN: 1552-8448 PMID: 32664819 DOI: 10.1177/1077801220937811Document Number: 203725
We report the prevalence and number of violent events of sexual violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and bullying experienced among sexual minority girls, sexual minority boys, heterosexual girls, and heterosexual boys. We conducted covariate-adjusted analyses of variance on 16,243 high school youth from 13 schools in Kentucky. Sexual minority boys and girls and heterosexual girls had higher rates of all forms of violence compared with heterosexual boys, but rates of violence between sexual minority girls and boys were statistically equivalent. Prevention and intervention programs must incorporate elements of minority stress theory to disrupt heterosexist norms that contribute to violence.