IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0074446.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Frequency of Discrimination, Harassment, and Violence in Lesbian, Gay Men, and Bisexual in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Concetta P Pelullo
  • Gabriella Di Giuseppe
  • Italo F Angelillo

Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study assessed the frequency of discrimination, harassment, and violence and the associated factors among a random sample of 1000 lesbian, gay men, and bisexual women and men recruited from randomly selected public venues in Italy. Methods: A face-to-face interview sought information about: socio-demographics, frequency of discrimination, verbal harassment, and physical and sexual violence because of their sexual orientation, and their fear of suffering each types of victimization. Results: In the whole sample, 28.3% and 11.9% self-reported at least one episode of victimization because of the sexual orientation in their lifetime and in the last year. Those unmarried, compared to the others, and with a college degree or higher, compared to less educated respondents, were more likely to have experienced an episode of victimization in their lifetime. Lesbians, compared to bisexual, had almost twice the odds of experiencing an episode of victimization. The most commonly reported experiences across the lifetime were verbal harassment, discrimination, and physical or sexual violence. Among those who had experienced one episode of victimization in their lifetime, 42.1% self-reported one episode in the last year. Perceived fear of suffering violence because of their sexual orientation, measured on a 10-point Likert scale with a higher score indicative of greater fear, ranges from 5.7 for verbal harassment to 6.4 for discrimination. Participants were more likely to have fear of suffering victimization because of their sexual orientation if they were female (compared to male), lesbian and gay men (compared to bisexual women and men), unmarried (compared to the others), and if they have already suffered an episode of victimization (compared to those who have not suffered an episode). Conclusions: The study provides important insights into the violence experiences of lesbian, gay men, and bisexual women and men and the results may serve for improving policy initiatives to reduce such episodes.

Suggested Citation

  • Concetta P Pelullo & Gabriella Di Giuseppe & Italo F Angelillo, 2013. "Frequency of Discrimination, Harassment, and Violence in Lesbian, Gay Men, and Bisexual in Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-1, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0074446
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074446
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0074446
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0074446&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0074446?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Silenzio, V.M.B. & Pena, J.B. & Duberstein, P.R. & Cerel, J. & Knox, K.L., 2007. "Sexual orientation and risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adolescents and young adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(11), pages 2017-2019.
    2. McCabe, S.E. & Bostwick, W.B. & Hughes, T.L. & West, B.T. & Boyd, C.J., 2010. "The relationship between discrimination and substance use disorders among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1946-1952.
    3. Hatzenbuehler, M.L. & McLaughlin, K.A. & Keyes, K.M. & Hasin, D.S., 2010. "The impact of institutional discrimination on psychiatric disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: A prospective study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(3), pages 452-459.
    4. Huebner, D.M. & Rebchook, G.M. & Kegeles, S.M., 2004. "Experiences of harassment, discrimination, and physical violence among young gay and bisexual men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(7), pages 1200-1203.
    5. Mays, V.M. & Cochran, S.D., 2001. "Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1869-1876.
    6. Blosnich, J.R. & Bossarte, R.M., 2009. "Comparisons of intimate partner violence among partners in same-sex and opposite-sex relationships in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(12), pages 2182-2184.
    7. Koenig, M.A. & Stephenson, R. & Ahmed, S. & Jejeebhoy, S.J. & Campbell, J., 2006. "Individual and contextual determinants of domestic violence in North India," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(1), pages 132-138.
    8. Mayer, K.H. & Bradford, J.B. & Makadon, H.J. & Stall, R. & Goldhammer, H. & Landers, S., 2008. "Sexual and gender minority health: What we know and what needs to be done," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(6), pages 989-995.
    9. McLaughlin, K.A. & Hatzenbuehler, M.L. & Keyes, K.M., 2010. "Responses to discrimination and psychiatric disorders among black, hispanic, female, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(8), pages 1477-1484.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shuai Chen & Jan C. Ours, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2299-2320, December.
    2. Bethany G. Everett & Jarron Saint Onge & Stefanie Mollborn, 2016. "Effects of Minority Status and Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 445-469, August.
    3. Chen, Shuai & van Ours, Jan, 2017. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics; Are Same-sex Relationships Different?," Other publications TiSEM c5d245e6-4e7b-470d-bbd6-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Chen, Shuai, 2019. "Marriage, minorities, and mass movements," Other publications TiSEM 9cb1b11d-12e6-46a8-adca-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. I-Hsuan Lin & Nai-Ying Ko & Yu-Te Huang & Mu-Hong Chen & Wei-Hsin Lu & Cheng-Fang Yen, 2019. "Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Referendums on the Suicidal Ideation Rate among Nonheterosexual People in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-11, September.
    6. Nai-Ying Ko & I-Hsuan Lin & Yu-Te Huang & Mu-Hong Chen & Wei-Hsin Lu & Cheng-Fang Yen, 2020. "Associations of Perceived Socially Unfavorable Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage with Suicidal Ideation in Taiwanese People before and after Same-Sex Marriage Referendums," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Everett, Bethany G. & Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Hughes, Tonda L., 2016. "The impact of civil union legislation on minority stress, depression, and hazardous drinking in a diverse sample of sexual-minority women: A quasi-natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 180-190.
    8. Xiaojun Liu & Dongdong Jiang & Xiangfan Chen & Anran Tan & Yitan Hou & Meikun He & Yuanan Lu & Zongfu Mao, 2018. "Mental Health Status and Associated Contributing Factors among Gay Men in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, May.
    9. Gilbert, Paul A. & Zemore, Sarah E., 2016. "Discrimination and drinking: A systematic review of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 178-194.
    10. Kendric Coleman, 2016. "The Difference Safe Spaces Make," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, May.
    11. Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & McLaughlin, Katie A. & Xuan, Ziming, 2012. "Social networks and risk for depressive symptoms in a national sample of sexual minority youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1184-1191.
    12. Roger L Scott & Gerri Lasiuk & Colleen Norris, 2016. "The relationship between sexual orientation and depression in a national population sample," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3522-3532, December.
    13. Reczek, Corinne, 2012. "The promotion of unhealthy habits in gay, lesbian, and straight intimate partnerships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1114-1121.
    14. Francisco Perales, 2016. "The Costs of Being “Different”: Sexual Identity and Subjective Wellbeing over the Life Course," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 827-849, June.
    15. Ryan J. Watson & Christopher W. Wheldon & Lars Wichstrøm & Stephen T. Russell, 2015. "Cross-National Investigation of Health Indicators among Sexual Minorities in Norway and the United States," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Huang-Chi Lin & Yi-Lung Chen & Nai-Ying Ko & Yu-Ping Chang & Wei-Hsin Lu & Cheng-Fang Yen, 2021. "Perception of Attitudes of the General Population toward Homosexuality in Taiwan: Roles of Demographic Factors, Mental Health, and Social Debates on Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-10, March.
    17. Corinne Reczek & Hui Liu & Dustin Brown, 2014. "Cigarette Smoking in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Unions: The Role of Socioeconomic and Psychological Factors," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(4), pages 527-551, August.
    18. Abdurrahman Keskin, 2023. "Determinants of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Against Women in Turkiye According to Socioeconomic and Sociodemographic Factors," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 73(73-1), pages 587-613, June.
    19. Pandey, Shanta, 2017. "Persistent nature of child marriage among women even when it is illegal: The case of Nepal," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 242-247.
    20. Sansone, Dario, 2019. "Pink work: Same-sex marriage, employment and discrimination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0074446. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.