Same-Sex Abuse

Prevalence and Forms of Same-Sex Abuse

One of the most frequently asked questions about same-sex abuse is, “How often does it occur?” Another way to ask this question is, “How prevalent is same-sex abuse?” The way to measure “prevalence” (a count of acts of abuse) is by asking a sample of respondents in a study if they have experienced a specific act of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse in the past year. Examples of such questions include: “In the twelve months prior to this survey, has your partner ever hit you with open hands or fists?”; “In the twelve months prior to this survey, has your partner ever forced you to have sex when you didn't want to?”; and “In the twelve months prior to this survey, has your partner ever demeaned you in front of friends or relatives?” Respondents are also asked how many times in the past twelve months they have experienced these acts. Such measures produce a count of partner abuse that is referred to as “past-year prevalence,” typically reported as a percentage. Another common way of counting abuse is to ask a sample of respondents if they have ever experienced a specific act of abuse. This kind of count is called “lifetime prevalence,” and it is also typically reported as a percentage.

To obtain a relatively accurate estimate of either pastyear or lifetime prevalence, a researcher must draw a large, random sample of the population of interest. In random sampling, each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study. Random sampling helps to ensure that the people who participate in the study are similar to—or “representative” of—all the people in the population. Without random sampling, the people who participate in the study may differ in important ways from the rest of the population; for instance, they may be richer or poorer, sicker or healthier, less racially or ethnically diverse. But to draw a random sample, a researcher must have a fairly complete “sampling frame,” that is, a list of all the members of the population. Given that gay men and lesbians are a largely hidden population, random sampling is difficult at best. Consequently, as long as homophobia forces gay men and lesbians to hide their sexual orientation and intimate relationships from others, including researchers, a true prevalence study of same-sex abuse is not possible.

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