U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation

NCJ Number
241083
Author(s)
Mikel L. Walters; Jieru Chen; Matthew J. Breiding
Date Published
January 2013
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This study examined and measured lifetime victimization for violence as well as victimization in the 12 months prior to taking the survey.
Abstract
The findings of this report indicate that bisexual woman had significantly higher prevalence of virtually all types of sexual violence and intimate partner violence measured in the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) when compared to both heterosexual and lesbian women. Results indicate that bisexual women had significantly higher lifetime prevalence of rape and sexual violence other than rape by any perpetrator when compared to both lesbian and heterosexual women; bisexual women had significantly higher lifetime prevalence of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner when compared to both lesbian and heterosexual women; and lesbian women and gay men reported levels of intimate partner violence and sexual violence equal to or higher than those of heterosexuals. The findings in this report are for 2010, the first year of NISVS data collection, and are based on complete interviews. Complete interviews were obtained from 16,507 adults (9,086 women and 7,421 men). Prevalence estimates for some types of violence for particular groups were too small to produce reliable estimates and, therefore, are not reported. Tables, figures, and references