• Katherine M Iverson, Whitney S Livingston, Dawne Vogt, Brian N Smith, Shannon M Kehle-Forbes, and Karen S Mitchell.
• Women's Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA. Katherine.Iverson@va.gov.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Feb 1; 39 (3): 418427418-427.

BackgroundSexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences are major social determinants of adverse health. There is limited prevalence data on these experiences for veterans, particularly across sociodemographic groups.ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of SV before, during, and after military service and lifetime and past-year IPV for women and men, and explore differences across sociodemographic groups.DesignData are from two national cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2020. Weighted prevalence estimates of SV and IPV experiences were computed, and weighted logistic regression models were used for comparisons across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and age.ParticipantsStudy 1 included veterans of all service eras (N = 1187; 50.0% women; 29% response rate). Study 2 included recently separated post-9/11 veterans (N = 1494; 55.2% women; 19.4% response rate).Main MeasuresSV was assessed with the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 (DRRI-2). IPV was assessed with the extended Hurt-Insult-Threaten-Scream Tool.Key ResultsWomen were more likely than men to experience pre-military SV (study 1: 39.9% vs. 8.7%, OR = 6.96, CIs: 4.71-10.28; study 2: 36.2% vs. 8.6%, OR = 6.04, CIs: 4.18-8.71), sexual harassment and/or assault during military service (study 1: 55.0% vs. 16.8%, OR = 6.30, CIs: 4.57-8.58; study 2: 52.9% vs. 26.9%, OR = 3.08, CIs: 2.38-3.98), and post-military SV (study 1: 12.4% vs. 0.9%, OR = 15.49, CIs: 6.42-36.97; study 2: 7.5% vs. 1.5%, OR = 5.20, CIs: 2.26-11.99). Women were more likely than men to experience lifetime IPV (study 1: 45.7% vs. 37.1%, OR = 1.38, CIs: 1.04-1.82; study 2: 45.4% and 34.8%, OR = 1.60, CIs: 1.25-2.04) but not past-year IPV (study 1: 27.9% vs. 28.3%, OR = 0.95, CIs: 0.70-1.28; study 2: 33.1% vs. 28.5%, OR = 1.24, CIs: 0.95-1.61). When controlling for gender, there were few differences across other sociodemographic groups, with the exception of sexual orientation.ConclusionsUnderstanding veterans' experiences of SV and IPV can inform identification and intervention efforts, especially for women and sexual minorities.© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.

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