Disclosure of Sexual Violence Victimization and Anticipated Social Reactions among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community College Students

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students report significantly higher rates of sexual violence victimization than their heterosexual counterparts. The additional stressors (e.g., discrimination) that sexual minority populations face may impact their decision to disclose victimization and anticipated social reactions. Therefore, we compared rates of disclosure and anticipated social reactions of lesbian/gay, bisexual, and heterosexual community college students (n = 677) who reported at least one incident of sexual violence victimization since enrolling at their institution. Students who identified as bisexual reported victimization at higher rates (63.8%) than students who identified as lesbian/gay and heterosexual and were significantly more likely to disclose victimization. Bisexual survivors reported significantly lower well-being outcomes (i.e., mental health and life satisfaction) than heterosexual survivors. However, lesbian/gay survivors reported anticipating more negative social reactions than heterosexual survivors. These findings highlight the importance of offering support services to LGB students at community colleges. Implications for future research are discussed.