Traversing gender, sexual orientation, and race-ethnicity: Sexual victimization in a population-based sample of older adults

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis research examined the intersectionality of gender, sexual orientation, and race-ethnicity, and its impact on lifetime sexual victimization among a population-based sample of older adults. Data for this study came from the 2011–2014 waves of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The final sample to be used for analysis included 8.862 individuals ages 50 years and over to examine whether and to what extent lesbian, gay, and bisexual older adults differ from heterosexual older adults in experiencing lifetime sexual victimization, and whether the effect of sexual orientation on experiencing lifetime sexual victimization differs across racial-ethnic groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed that lesbian women were 2.59 times more likely and bisexual women 2.15 times more likely both relative to heterosexual women to experience lifetime sexual victimization. When examining whether race-ethnicity imparts additional risk, the findings revealed that non-White heterosexual individuals were 29.6% less likely relative to White heterosexual individuals to experience lifetime sexual victimization, while non-White women, generally, were 2.29 times more likely relative to White men to experience lifetime sexual victimization. Our findings affirm the importance of the intersectionality of sexual orientation and gender when examining lifetime sexual victimization of older adults, adding to the emerging body of research that examines the complexities of older adult lives from multifaceted perspectives.