LGBTQIA+ people

What is sexual assault?

Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual behaviour.

If someone has sexual contact with you that you don’t want, that is sexual assault. If someone makes you do sexual things that you don’t want to do, that is sexual assault. And sexual assault also includes any sexual act that you are not able to consent to, for example if you are asleep or unconscious.

Sexual assault can take place in public or in private. It can be carried out by a stranger but is more often done by someone you know - a friend, family member, or partner.

Sexual behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable or frightened is sexual assault. This can include:

• touching, grabbing or kissing your body, even through clothes
• rape (penetration of the anus, vagina or mouth with a finger, penis or object)
• being forced to watch or engage in pornography, including being made to pose for photographs or videos
• being made to perform sexual acts, including stimulating another person or masturbating
• another person showing you their genitals

Sexual assault can happen to people of any gender and sexuality, but members of the LGBTQIA+ community may face different or additional challenges to other groups.

Sexual assault is never, your fault.

Everyone has the right to feel safe, and to make decisions about their own body. Sexual violence is an abuse of power. No person deserves to be sexually assaulted. A person who commits sexual assault is responsible for their own behaviour.

How common is it for LGBTQIA+ people to experience sexual violence?

It is hard to put an exact figure on the exact number of LGBTQIA+ people who experience sexual violence, but the figures we do have indicate that it is a serious problem.

A 2020 study from the US revealed that LGBT people are nearly four times more likely than non-LGBT people to be the victim of violent crime, including rape and sexual assault.

Additionally, a 2015 study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies focusing on intimate partner violence in LGBTQIA+ communities found that members of those communities experience intimate partner violence at the same rate as those in heterosexual relationships. Around 28% of male-identifying respondents and 41% of female-identifying respondents reported having been in a relationship where a partner was abusive.

That same study noted that homophobia and transphobia can affect the responses to intimate partner violence in LGBTQIA+ communities, and that many service providers lack awareness and understanding of issues specific to those communities.

What are some of the challenges for LGBTQIA+ people who experience sexual violence?

A member of the LGBTQIA+ community who has experienced sexual violence will face many of the same challenges as any other victim survivor. But there are also a wide range of additional issues that are unique to their experiences. These can include:

• facing disbelief that sexual violence affects LGBTQIA+ people
• finding it hard to self-identify as a victim-survivor
• finding it hard to recognise or name sexual assault by
• a female partner as sexual assault
• not being able to disclose or seek support without outing yourself
• worrying that being sexually abused as a boy by
• another male will ‘make you gay’
• an abuser using the threat of outing a victim-survivor to coerce or control
• discrimination and stigma making it hard to seek
• support from police or health services
• lack of inclusive or affirming support services

What is the impact of sexual assault on LGBTQIA+ people?

Each survivor reacts to sexual violence in their own unique way. It is important to respect each person’s choices and style of coping with this traumatic event.

There is no right or wrong way to feel after a sexual assault. But common responses include:

• Shock/disbelief – “I never thought this could happen to me”
• Fear – “Will the perpetrator hurt me again?”
• Anger – “How dare they do this to me?”
• Shame – “How can I show my face again?”
• Guilt/self-blame – “If only I hadn’t…”
• Betrayal – “But I trusted them”
• Numbness – “I feel so hollow”
• Worry/anxiety about the future – “Will my life ever be the same?”

Some common symptoms and effects of trauma are flashbacks, nightmares, mood swings, insomnia, exhaustion, loss of appetite, over-eating, feeling numb or spaced out, avoidance of people and places, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, risk-taking behaviour, self-harming, or self-medicating through alcohol and/or drug use.

Reaching out for support can be an important way to help you work through the trauma you have experienced. Healing is possible and everyone does this in their own way and at their own pace. Despite your trauma, you also have your own resources and strengths that can also help you recover from the impacts of sexual violence.