Citation

Canan SN, Jozkowski KN, Wiersma-Mosley J, Blunt-Vinti H, Bradley M. Arch. Sex. Behav. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10508-019-01543-7

PMID

31549361

Abstract

Lesbian and bisexual women have high rates of sexual violence compared to heterosexual women, yet prevalence rates vary widely across studies. The Sexual Experience Survey-Short Form Revised (SES-SFV) is the most commonly used method of measuring sexual assault and rape prevalence, but it has not been validated in this high-risk population of lesbian and bisexual women. The current study assessed a modified form of the SES-SFV utilizing a five-step, mixed-methods approach. Women (N = 1382) who identified as lesbian (31%), bisexual (32%), and heterosexual (31%) completed an online survey disseminated through Qualtrics Online Survey Company to a national audience. All types of non-consensual behaviors (non-penetrative, oral, vaginal, and anal) and nearly all perpetration tactics in the original SES-SFV emerged inductively in our qualitative data. Using quantitative data, lesbian and bisexual victims endorsed each perpetration tactic in the SES-SFV at comparable rates to heterosexual victims. SES-SFV's false-positive categorization was minimal. However, the original SES-SFV did not capture some common experiences that participants described in their open-ended narratives. The SES-SFV satisfactorily assesses sexual assault and rape experiences in lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women. Possible additions and deletions to the SES-SFV are presented alongside discussion of managing comprehensiveness and participant fatigue.

Language: en

Keywords

Bisexual; Lesbian; Rape; Sexual assault; Sexual orientation; Sexual violence