BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Glob. Women’s Health
Sec. Quality of Life
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1524148
This article is part of the Research TopicData to Action – Advancing Research on Violence Against Trans Women Around the GlobeView all 3 articles
Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Intimate Partner Violence among Trans Women in the
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
- 2San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California, United States
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Intimate partner violence (IPV), including sexual IPV, is a significant public health issue with serious mental, physical, and economic consequences. Trans women are disproportionately affected by sexual IPV. However, research on factors associated with sexual IPV is limited among trans women. This study sought to identify factors associated with sexual IPV in a large cohort of trans women . We conducted a secondary data analysis of data from the Trans*National cohort study (2016)(2017), which enrolled 629 trans women via respondent-driven sampling, we conducted bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses to examine correlates of lifetime history of sexual IPV.The prevalence of lifetime sexual IPV was 36%, and bivariate analyses identified several factors associated with sexual IPV, including inconsistent hormone use, non-prescribed hormone use, sex work, polysubstance use, depression, PTSD, suicidality, homelessness, and discrimination. Multivariable models revealed significant associations between sexual IPV and psychosocial factors, such as substance use, mental health diagnoses, and experiences of violence and discrimination. These findings are consistent with the substance abuse, violence, and HIV/AIDS (SAVA) syndemic framework, underscoring the interconnectedness of these conditions among trans women. Additionally, the findings suggest that disruptions in access to gender-affirming care may be a negative consequence of sexual IPV. These results also highlight the urgent need for integrated approaches to address the mental health, substance use, and HIV prevention needs of trans women who experience sexual IPV. Interventions that address structural discrimination and provide holistic support are necessary to improve the health and well-being of trans women survivors of sexual IPV.
Keywords: transgender, Intimate partiner violence, Mental Health, substance use, Violence
Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Santos, McFarland and Wilson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Glenn-Milo Santos, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
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