Examining Sexual Exploitation in a National US Sample of LGBTQ+ Individuals Using the Revised Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization.

Abstract

Sexual exploitation (SE) refers to sex acts imposed without freely given permission. Despite the elevated risks of SE experienced by LGBTQ+ individuals, limitations in many existing datasets and research reports preclude a comprehensive understanding by incorporating few LGBTQ+ individuals, not disaggregating by sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), and using non-inclusive measures of SE items. This paper presents the first use of the 2024 revised Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization to quantify SE in a national adult LGBTQ+ sample (N = 474) using measurement beyond prototypical cisgender heterosexual scenarios. Prevalences of noncontact, technology-facilitated, illegal acts, and verbal pressure SE were stratified by SOGI. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between SOGI and SE. Findings suggest alarmingly high sample-wide prevalence, with 95.23% of participants reporting any experience of SE. Asexual and lesbian cisgender women had significantly lower odds of experiencing verbal pressure and illegal acts than bisexual cisgender women. High prevalence provides evidence for the urgent need to continue investigating LGBTQ+ SE, particularly illegal acts and technology-facilitated SE. Future research should oversample underrepresented SOGI subgroups to bolster cell sizes and increase reliability. Understanding LGBTQ+ SE is essential for informing targeted prevention and intervention.