Gender Roles, Sexual Assertiveness, and Sexual Victimization in LGBTQ Individuals

Abstract

The present study examined relationships among sexual victimization, gender roles, and sexual assertiveness in an LGBTQ sample. Recruited via Mechanical Turk, 455 LGBTQ adults completed measures of sexual assertiveness, gender roles, and sexual assault victimization and perpetration. Some form of sexual victimization in the past year was reported by 31% of participants, and 66% reported some type of sexual victimization since the age of 14. Perpetration of sexual violence in the past year was reported by 17% of the sample, and 27% reported sexual violence perpetration since the age of 14. Logistic regressions revealed that gender roles predicted sexual victimization and sexual perpetration status. Additionally, sexual assertiveness was negatively correlated with both sexual victimization and perpetration status. Contrary to expectations, the interaction between gender roles and sexual assertiveness was not predictive of sexual victimization or perpetration. The implications of the findings are discussed.