Prevalence and Associated Factors of Sexual Victimization: Findings from a National Representative Sample of Belgian Adults Aged 16-69.

Evelyn Schapansky,Ines Keygnaert,Christophe Vandeviver,Joke Depraetere

doi:10.3390/ijerph18147360

Abstract

Sexual victimization is a major public health, judicial, and societal concern worldwide. Nationally representative and comparable studies are still lacking. We applied a broad definition of sexual violence, including hands-off and hands-on victimization, and behaviorally specific questions to assess sexual victimization. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates were obtained that are representative of the Belgian general population aged 16 to 69 with regard to sex and age. These estimates indicate that 64% experienced some form of sexual victimization in their lives, and 44% experienced some form of sexual victimization in the past 12 months. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations for sex, age, sexual orientation, the number of sexual partners, and the financial situation with sexual victimization. Furthermore, our data show that mental health is significantly worse in persons with a history of prior sexual victimization. Prevalence estimates for all forms of sexual victimization are presented and compared to other national and international studies on sexual victimization. This comparison suggests that prevalence rates may have been underestimated in extant research. The prevalence estimates obtained in this study demonstrate that all sexes and ages are affected by sexual victimization.

Highlights

Sexual victimization is a global problem with immediate and long-term consequences for an individual’s physical, sexual, social, and mental well-being [1]
64.1% of Belgian residents between 16 and 69 years experienced some form of sexual victimization during their lifetimes, and 44.1%
The current study provides nationally representative prevalence estimates of hands-off and hands-on sexual victimization in the Belgian general population

Summary

Introduction

Sexual victimization is a global problem with immediate and long-term consequences for an individual’s physical, sexual, social, and mental well-being [1]. To address this major public health problem, it is indispensable to understand its nature and extent. The resulting outcomes of those studies tend to differ considerably and are not generalizable on a national level which would, help to formulate policy recommendations and improve prevention approaches that do not focus on a specific group [4] but instead can be tailored to each group at risk. Nationally representative studies are needed [4]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion