Citation

Ferreira DG, Veras MA, Saggese GSR, Guimarães MDC, Magno L, Dourado I, Maia Macena RH, Leal AF, Kendall C, Mércham-Hamann E, Bermúdez XPD, Knauth D, Sansigolo Kerr LR. Am. J. Men. Health 2022; 16(6): e15579883221142173.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/15579883221142173

PMID

36527370

Abstract

Most studies of sexual violence are with women, and although men who have sex with men (MSM) is the group of the men that has been most investigated for sexual violence, there are still several questions to be answered about sexual violence and sexual revictimization among MSM. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sexual violence in different stages of life and identify factors associated with sexual violence in adulthood among Brazilian MSM. We conducted an analysis with data from the study conducted in 2016 with 4,176 MSM from 12 Brazilian cities recruited through respondent-driven sampling (RDS), who answered a survey to a set of questions, among which some specific about sexual violence. Most participants were under 25 years old (56.5%), with more than 12 years of schooling (71.2%), mixed race (40.8%), single (86.2%), and belonging to some religion (50.9%). The lifetime prevalence of sexual violence was 20.3%. In our analyses, having experienced sexual violence in childhood and adolescence increased the odds of experiencing sexual violence in adulthood (prevalence ratio ratios [PRR] 4.93 (95% CI [1.99, 12.21]), as did experiencing physical violence (PRR 1.99; 95% CI [1.07, 3.71]) and receiving money for sex (PRR 2.26; 95% CI [1.17, 4.36]). In addition to violence in childhood and adolescence being risk factors for sexual violence in adulthood, we also observed that half of the sample experienced sexual violence repeatedly, characterizing sexual revictimization. It is important that health services are prepared to receive boys and men victims in order to reduce the chances of revictimization and other outcomes.

Language: en

Keywords

risk factors; domestic violence; behavioral issues; male on male violence; male sexual assault; special populations