ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Sibling sexual abuse (SSA) is a pervasive form of intrafamilial sexual violence. A review of existing literature underscores ongoing challenges to comprehensive understanding of this offense due to definitional inconsistencies, small sample sizes, data constraints, methodological shortcomings including reporting practices, and a dearth of empirical scrutiny. Previous studies have relied on retrospective, non-representative, clinical, or homogeneous samples. OBJECTIVE: The present work updates knowledge on SSA addressing several persistent limitations in previous studies and offering contemporary victim, offender, and incident-based profiles to promote avenues for future risk assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies. METHODS: This study, both exploratory and descriptive, draws on the five most recent years (2018-2022) of data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the largest available dataset (N = 30,640), containing SSA incidents reported to law enforcement. RESULTS: Significant sex differences were noted across age, race, victim injury, offense type, and relationship. Female victims were more likely to experience abuse from older siblings and were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be victimized as an adult than their male counterparts. Female victims were also more likely to report injury, yet less likely than male victims to experience forcible penetration during an SSA incident. CONCLUSIONS: Findings substantiate the ongoing need for continued refinement of SSA definitional criteria, which, in turn, will lead to greater identification and reporting of incidents. Moreover, findings here underscore the importance of considering age and gender dynamics to guide risk assessment, intervention, and prevention strategies.
ABSTRACT
STUDY QUESTIONS: Previous research has shown that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization are correlated. Furthermore, it has been consistently reported that transgender individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing IPV victimization and testing positive for HIV compared to cisgender individuals. However, past research examining the potential explanations for the correlation between HIV status and IPV victimization in transgender individuals using a large and inclusive sample is nonexistent. SUBJECTS: A total of 12,592 transgender and nonbinary individuals from across the United States were included in the analyses. METHODS: Through a bivariate probit analysis of data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, this study examines potential explanations for the association between HIV and IPV victimization in a sample of transgender individuals. FINDINGS: The results support previous research, which indicates that a transgender individual's HIV status is significantly correlated with their likelihood to experience IPV victimization. Additionally, a participant's involvement in sex work and other risk-taking behaviors, such as binge drinking, was found to, in part, explain this co-occurring relationship. Other variables, such as coercive control and prescription drug misuse, were found to correlate significantly with IPV victimization but not HIV status. The relationships between participants' demographic variables, such as their race, sexuality, sex assigned at birth, IPV victimization, and HIV status, were examined and discussed as well. IMPLICATIONS: We conclude that it is imperative for LGBTQ + organizations to provide services aimed at protecting transgender individuals suffering from IPV victimization who have also tested positive for HIV through increased accessibility of care and a deeper understanding of the potential relationships in which a person may be involved. This type of outreach would likely be an important first step in allowing transgender individuals to feel safer in their romantic relationships while simultaneously encouraging safe sex practices and a healthy lifestyle, which would increase overall quality of life.
