in.power* Is Helping Address the Disproportionate Impact Sexual Violence Has on LGBTQ+ People in Chicago

June 2, 2020

Rainbows are everywhere—and they’re not just a matter of summertime storms. Pride month is here, and with that (usually) comes a slew of celebrations, comemmerations, and parades all over Chicago. At the same time, it’s critical that we use this moment to discuss how sexual harm takes place in the queer community. Because of systemic oppression facing the LGBTQ+ community, survivors must grapple with specific, often unspoken, barriers to care. 

It’s something that Paige Baker-Brown, Program Manager of in.power* at Howard Brown Health (HBH), sees frequently in her work. One of CAASE’s partner organizations, HBH designed in.power* to be “the first holistic LGBTQ-specific sexual assault response program in the nation” and offers myriad services, including support groups and legal advocacy. 

“We’ve noticed that our queer survivors don’t use rape or sexual assault to describe their experiences,” Baker-Brown said in a phone interview. She believes that cultural discussions around sexualized violence often operate in a binary, gendered way, which prohibits complex and inclusive views of these situations. 

“The image produced by the media is usually one of a white woman assaulted by a stranger. That fuels the national conversation, and in turn, impacts legislation and funding,” Baker-Brown continued. This dissonance in representation and language can then result in further harm within the queer community. 

“There’s the fear of being outed, and then there’s the fear of outing the perpetrator. There’s the feeling that if you go to the police, you expose the person who harmed you to the systemic injustices of the criminal justice system,” she said. There’s a code of silence that often emerges in marginalized populations. “With that comes the fear of rejection, of losing your community and chosen family.”  

Additionally, queer survivors are less likely to access hospitals for evidence collection, making them less likely to seek STI treatment and mental health care in the long term. 

“We already know that sexual assault survivors don’t always report their attacks, but rates of reporting are even lower among queer folks,” Baker-Brown stated. The truth is, however, that LGBTQ+ people experience sexual violence at higher rates than straight folks. And, within the queer commmunity, trans individuals face an even greater risk with more than half of transgender people experiencing abuse or assault. 

This is why unique programming like in.power* must be a part of the larger discourse surrounding sexual violence, and why CAASE stands with queer survivors and their multifaceted experiences. 

This piece was authored by KT Hawbaker. Learn more about our staff here.