Sexual violence is present across different cultures, age groups, sexual identities, and gender identities, with a high lifetime prevalence in the general population, especially among women and sexual and gender minorities (Dworkin et al., 2021; Rothman et al., 2011; Sterzing et al., 2017; Walters et al., 2013; WHO, 2021). Considering the overarching effects of sexual violence on almost all areas of well-being and function, and the high risk of revictimization (Walker et al., 2019), screening for a variety of unwanted sexual experiences is important for research, epidemiologic, and clinical purposes. However, few scales assess both childhood and later-in-life sexual victimization, and thus revictimization. Even fewer of such scales have been validated across different languages, countries, and a diverse group of gender and sexual identities, and most published data are from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) countries. To address these gaps, the present study examined the psychometric properties of the Sexual Abuse History Questionnaire (SAHQ; Leserman et al., 1995) and estimate the occurrence rates of childhood, adolescent, and adult unwanted sexual experiences (e.g., unwanted touching of sexual organs) across 42 countries and in a variety of sexual and gender-diverse groups that were previously missing from measurement-focused studies.
Elsevier, International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, Volume 25, Issue 1, January–March 2025, 100535
