Inaccessible and stigmatizing: LGBTQ+ youth perspectives of services and sexual violence

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people are subject to high rates of sexual violence globally, significantly impacting their lives and psychological wellbeing. However, service use for sexual violence support is low for LGBTQ+ groups and there is no current research exploring LGBTQ+ young peoples’ experiences and perspectives of support services in the UK. To understand service utilisation for LGBTQ+ young people who have experienced sexual violence, a mixed methods exploration of survey data (N = 36) and individual interviews (N = 7) was conducted with LGBTQ+ young people aged 16–25. Participants reported a high prevalence of multiple types of sexual violence (e.g., 86.11% subject to sexual assault) and low reporting to any service (30.56%). Content analysis identified interpersonal, service, and sociocultural factors that limit service utilisation and sexual violence reporting. Two themes were identified through thematic analysis: ‘safety and acceptance’ which discussed participants’ positive experiences of services, and the theme ‘services as hard to reach’ explored how discrimination, heteronormativity, and victim-blaming impacted service accessibility. Implications for best practice for services supporting LGBTQ+ young people subject to sexual violence are discussed and a model is presented to address service utilisation.