Non-consensual sex experienced by men who have sex with men: prevalence and association with mental health
Section snippets
Background
There is little empirically known of the lifetime prevalence or consequences of childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault in men. Coxell et al. studied a cross-sectional, convenience sample of about 2500 British men who attended general physicians’ practices [1]. Of these men, 2.9% reported non-consensual sex experienced as adults, 5.4% reported non-consensual sex experienced as children, and 7.7% reported sexual experiences as children that would have been considered criminal acts according to
Methods
The Vanguard Project, started in May 1995, is an ongoing study of HIV rates and risk factors in young men who have sex with men in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Men with homosexual and bisexual behavior, aged 19–30 years, recruited through physicians’ offices, walk-in medical clinics, and community outreach, are eligible to participate if they have not previously tested HIV-positive, and if they self-identify as gay or bisexual, or have sex
Personal characteristics
The study participants (N=358) ranged in age from 19 to 35 years (M=28.6; S.D.=3.6). Most (85.2%) had at least a high school education and most (89.3%) were employed. Their annual income, including funds from salaries, the sex trade, and drug trafficking, ranged from less than CAD$ 5000 to more than CAD$ 50,000 (median earned CAD$ 25,000—29,999). Almost all (96.1%) lived in stable housing (i.e. owned or rented) while the remainder lived in hotels, rooming houses, shelters, hostels, or on the
Discussion
The lifetime prevalence of non-consensual sexual assault in this group of men with homosexual and bisexual sexual orientation is considerably higher than that recently reported in a convenience sample of British men and somewhat lower than that reported in American samples of both groups of men [1], [2], [3], [4]. A full 35% of the respondents in this study reported some kind of non-consensual sex, 10% reported involvement in juvenile prostitution, 14% were sexually abused as children, and 14%
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