Mental Health
Bisexual Women in the U.S. Vulnerable to Sexual Abuse
Bisexual women in the U.S. are more common victims of intimate partner violence than their homosexual or heterosexual counterparts, according to the latest government report.
The finding was made public by Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a news release.
The data looks into the association between the cases of domestic abuse, sexual violence and stalking to the sexual preference of an individual. It was also observed that the levels of violence among homosexuals were equal to or higher than their heterosexual counterparts.
"We know that violence affects everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. This report suggests that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in this country suffer a heavy toll of sexual violence and stalking committed by an intimate partner. While intervening and providing services are important, prevention is equally critical," Dr. Frieden said in the news release.
According to the report, 61 percent bisexual women had officially complained of rape, physical violence, and/or being stalked by their intimate partner, as opposed to 43 percent in lesbian women and 35 percent in heterosexual women. Almost 90 percent of the abusers of the bisexual women were their male partners, while two-thirds of the abusers of lesbians were other women.
Irrespective of the sexual preference of a woman, the majority of them suffered abuse by men. According to the report which was based on a survey conducted in 2010 by the U.S. National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, almost 48 percent women who were bisexual were first raped between the age of 11 and 17 years. In the case of heterosexual women, the percentage dropped to 28 percent, which means the abuse of bisexual women starts at a very early stage.
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