The Trouble with Transgender “Rapists”

Sexual Conduct ◽

This chapter surveys several cases of transgender men or butch women being convicted of sexual misconduct for deceiving their partners as to their assigned sex at birth. The conviction and categorization of this sexual conduct as sexual offense is troubling and wrong. These transgender “rapists” are not rapists, the sex is not sexual violence, and consent is not necessarily polluted by the undisclosed absence of a penis, the fact upon which most such cases and convictions rely. At the same time, these cases dramatize a central problem of consent’s scope: what do we consent to when we consent to sex? In this chapter, I propose that the deliberate contravention of an explicit conditional to sex should be a legal wrong and that such a narrowly tailored solution to the problem of sex-by-deception best protects sexual and gender minority defendants from phobic juries and judges while also facilitating sexual autonomy.

The People in Your Neighborhood: Working with Sexual and Gender Minority Youth as Victims of Sexual Violence

Handbook of Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_207-1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-26

Author(s):

Amy Russell

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Minority Youth ◽

Gender Minority ◽

The People ◽

Comparing Factors Shaping Sexual Violence Perpetration for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth and Cisgender Heterosexual Youth

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211021998 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110219

Author(s):

Ronita Nath ◽

Michele Ybarra ◽

Margaret MacAulay ◽

Koby Oppenheim ◽

Lauren Jackson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Prevention Education ◽

Violence Victimization ◽

Gender Minority ◽

Normative Expectations ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

Descriptive Approach ◽

And Gender ◽

Heterosexual Youth

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth experience higher rates of sexual violence victimization than their cisgender heterosexual counterparts. Very little is known about how the minority status of SGM youth contextualizes their victimization and perpetration experiences. In one-on-one interviews with 39 SGM youth and 11 cisgender heterosexuals (non-SGM) youth, we compared the contextual factors shaping sexual violence victimization and perpetration between the two groups using a qualitative descriptive approach. Interviews highlighted how SGM youth continue to experience extensive discrimination that negatively impacts all aspects of their lives, while non-SGM youth do not discuss having to navigate stigma and discrimination in their lives. SGM youth pointed to a lack of understanding of sexual violence within the SGM community. Both groups believed that SGM perpetration was unlikely: while most SGM and non-SGM youth agreed that sexual violence between youth was a problem, same-gender perpetration was seldom discussed. Unlike their non-SGM counterparts, SGM youth felt that they were targeted because of their sexual and gender identity. SGM youth also felt that they were more vulnerable to sexual violence because of how they physically looked, particularly if their gender expression did not match cis-normative expectations. SGM youth reported facing unique pressures when seeking support as a victim, particularly a fear of being outed or stigmatized as part of the process. They also conveyed that SGM people worried about being treated unfairly if they reported sexual violence to authorities. Findings suggest that stigma and concerns of discrimination are unique aspects of sexual violence for SGM compared to non-SGM youth. All youth need to have access to sexual violence prevention education that includes SGM and non-SGM youth as both victims and perpetrators to begin addressing these noted disparities in experiences.

‘They talked completely about straight couples only’: schooling, sexual violence and sexual and gender minority youth

Sex Education ◽

10.1080/14681811.2021.1924142 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Margaret MacAulay ◽

Michele L. Ybarra ◽

Elizabeth M. Saewyc ◽

T. Richard Sullivan ◽

Lauren A. Jackson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Minority Youth ◽

Gender Minority ◽

Introduction to the Special Issue: Queer and Trans People’s Experiences of Sexual Violence

10.31219/osf.io/s93tx ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

RaeAnn Elizabeth Anderson ◽

Corey Flanders

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Violence Against Women ◽

Health Research ◽

Special Issue ◽

Health Researcher ◽

Gender Minority ◽

Important Resource ◽

And Gender ◽

The Many

We, the guest editors, have come to the topic of queer and trans experiences of sexual violence from different paths even though we started our careers in Psychology at the same institution (Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go KU!). Dr. Anderson is, first and foremost, a violence researcher, and Flanders a queer and trans health researcher. However, we have come together to collaborate in the last few years in recognition of how little scholars in the fields of violence research (frequently named violence against women) and sexual and gender minority (SGM) health research collaborate despite the many intersections and overlapping work of the fields. These fields have a great deal in common - both are invested in improving the lives of people who are marginalized. Yet, we saw a need to foster greater space and dialogue for violence researchers and SGM health researchers in psychology and related disciplines regarding the stark sexual violence disparities SGM people experience. We see this special issue as constituting a way in which this dialogue can be continued, as well as serving as an important resource on SGM sexual violence for both researchers and clinicians.

The People in Your Neighborhood: Working with Sexual and Gender Minority Youth as Victims of Sexual Violence

10.1007/978-3-319-89999-2_207 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 831-856

Author(s):

Amy Russell

Keyword(s):

Sexual Violence ◽

Minority Youth ◽

Gender Minority ◽

The People ◽

Differences in Rape Acknowledgement and Mental Health Outcomes across Transgender, Non-binary, and Cisgender Bisexual Youth

10.31219/osf.io/b2vxr ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

RaeAnn Anderson ◽

Lesley A. Tarasoff ◽

Nicole VanKim ◽

Corey Flanders

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Minority Stress ◽

Mental Health Outcomes ◽

Stress Theory ◽

Gender Minority ◽

Rape Acknowledgment ◽

Objective: The purpose of this study was to document the rates of rape acknowledgment (labeling rape as rape rather than using a minimizing label), and the corresponding mental health correlates using the minority stress framework in a unique and vulnerable sample: racially diverse sexual and gender minority young adults.Method: Participants were 245 young adults who identified their sexual orientation as under the bisexual umbrella. A total of 159 of these participants (65.2%) identified their gender identity as non-binary. All participants completed a series of online questionnaires regarding their sexual victimization history, mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder: PTSD), and constructs relevant to minority stress theory (level of outness, internalized bisexual negativity, connection to LGBTQ community).Results: Rape acknowledgment was significantly greater among gender non-binary participants (79.9%) than among trans and cisgender male participants (17.9%). Lack of rape acknowledgment was associated with increased anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Outness was significantly associated with greater rape acknowledgment. Conclusions: In spite of the highly increased vulnerability for sexual violence among sexual and gender minorities, very little is understood about the mechanisms of this increased vulnerability nor their unique needs for recovery. The results of this study strongly suggest the importance of a minority stress framework for understanding this increased vulnerability and for designing sexual violence prevention and recovery interventions for sexual and gender minority populations.