Evaluation of State-Level Sexual and Gender Minority Laws for the Primary Prevention of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in the U.S.

Summary

The goal of this observational study is to learn how state-level laws related to sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth affect the risk of sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among sexual minority (SM) youth in the United States. The study looks at both supportive laws (such as bans on conversion therapy and anti-bullying protections) and restrictive laws (such as limits on gender-affirming care) passed between 2017 and 2025. The main questions it aims to answer are: Part 1: * Do supportive SGM laws lower the risk of SV/IPV among SM youth? * Do restrictive SGM laws raise the risk of SV/IPV among SM youth? * Does the social climate in a state (such as levels of stigma toward SGM people) change how these laws affect SM youth? Part 2: -How do SGM youth themselves describe the ways that laws and social climates affect their safety and wellbeing? Part 1 - Quantitative analysis: Researchers will use existing, publicly available survey data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) to compare changes in SV/IPV risk among SM youth across states that adopted different types of SGM laws over the period of 2017-2025. No participants are enrolled for this part. Part 2 - Qualitative interviews: Researchers will conduct one-on-one interviews with approximately 30 SGM youth ages 13-18 living across U.S. states with varying levels of adoption of supportive SGM laws. Each youth will take part in one 60-minute interview. Youth will be asked about their views on how laws and social climates affect safety, stigma, and access to resources. Youth will not be asked to share personal experiences of violence.

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