Demographic Differences in Technology-Facilitated Abuse Among U.S. Young Adults by Sexual Identity and Race/Ethnicity

While research now shows that sexual minority (SM) young adults experience more technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) than their cisgender and heterosexual peers, little scholarship examines how these experiences differ across racial and ethnic lines within the SM community. We draw on an original survey fielded to a nationally representative sample of 2,752 young adults aged 18 to 35 from November 2020 to May 2021. Bivariate analyses were conducted to assess the direct relationship between sexual minority status and TFA victimization and perpetration. Multivariate logistic regression and negative binomial regression were used to assess TFA victimization and perpetration outcomes. SM young adults reported more victimization experiences, higher odds of experiencing in-person abuse along with TFA, higher odds of experiencing physical harm associated with their TFA, and a greater number of TFA perpetrators than their heterosexual/straight peers. SM cisgender females likewise reported higher rates of all four outcomes than cisgender heterosexual/straight females. SM cisgender males reported a greater number of TFA perpetrators than heterosexual cisgender males. No significant effects by interaction of SM status and race/ethnicity were found in the cisgender female or cisgender male stratified models. SM young adults also reported perpetrating violence against more victims than heterosexual/straight young adults. Black, Hispanic, and some other race/multiracial SM young adults all perpetrated TFA on fewer victims than white SM young adults. While few intersectional differences were found, results indicate that SM young adults are at increased risk of TFA and that SM young adults minoritized by race may be at the highest risk of TFA victimization, even as they are less likely to perpetrate TFA.