Social-Ecological Correlates of Sexual Victimization: Explaining Bisexual Women’s Heightened Vulnerability

Bisexual women face disproportionately higher rates of sexual violence, yet factors contributing to this vulnerability remain understudied. To explain this heightened vulnerability among bisexual women, the present study employed a newly developed integrative social-ecological model to examine multilevel general and bi-specific risk and protective correlates of adult sexual victimization (SV). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 1,560 cisgender women (732 bisexual and 828 heterosexual women) aged 25 to 34 years in the United States. Participants responded to SV experiences and general risk and protective correlates; bisexual women additionally reported on bi-specific risk and protective correlates. Hierarchical negative binomial regression revealed shared risk correlates across both groups, including disability, binge drinking, number of sexual partners, child abuse, adolescent SV, and intimate partner violence victimization; sexual assertiveness was protective for both groups. Importantly, bisexual women experienced additional vulnerabilities: an interaction between off-premises alcohol outlet density and sexual orientation indicated that community-level alcohol availability differentially increased risk for bisexual women, while internalized binegativity, anti-bisexual experiences, and bisexual microaffirmations were significantly associated with adult SV. These findings identify multilevel general and bi-specific correlates of bisexual women's vulnerability to sexual violence. Multilevel prevention and interventions should prevent early violence exposure and challenge rape culture and binegativity through community education, policy reform, and structural change to reduce bisexual women's disproportionate SV risk.