“I was just so confused, like does this even count as sexual assault?”: understanding LGBTQA+ sexual victimization, help-seeking, and mental health outcomes

Most research on sexual victimization centers on cisgender, heterosexual experiences and pushes LGBTQA+ experiences to the margins. The current study focuses on queer experiences of sexual victimization and subsequent help-seeking behaviors and mental health outcomes. Fifteen in-depth interviews with queer identifying individuals who experienced sexual violence were conducted and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. A total of 32 incidents of sexual violence were discussed across the 15 participants. Findings indicate that negative disclosure responses from others, as well as normalizing and rationalizing experiences of sexual violence, are detrimental to help-seeking behavior. Incidents that involved sexually minoritized women and heterosexual men were met with more positive disclosure responses than incidents that occurred between two sexually minoritized women. Additionally, lesbians experienced more supportive reactions to disclosure than bisexual and queer women. Mental health professionals who were knowledgeable and experienced in both trauma and LGBTQA+ related issues had the most impact on improved health and well-being for queer survivors of sexual violence.