Validation of the Sexual Experience Survey-Short Form Revised Using Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women’s Narratives of Sexual Violence

Lesbian and bisexual women have high rates of sexual violence compared to heterosexual women, yet prevalence rates vary widely across studies. The Sexual Experience Survey-Short Form Revised (SES-SFV) is the most commonly used method of measuring sexual assault and rape prevalence, but it has not been validated in this high-risk population of lesbian and bisexual women. The current study assessed a modified form of the SES-SFV utilizing a five-step, mixed-methods approach. Women (N = 1382) who identified as lesbian (31%), bisexual (32%), and heterosexual (31%) completed an online survey disseminated through Qualtrics Online Survey Company to a national audience. All types of non-consensual behaviors (non-penetrative, oral, vaginal, and anal) and nearly all perpetration tactics in the original SES-SFV emerged inductively in our qualitative data. Using quantitative data, lesbian and bisexual victims endorsed each perpetration tactic in the SES-SFV at comparable rates to heterosexual victims. SES-SFV’s false-positive categorization was minimal. However, the original SES-SFV did not capture some common experiences that participants described in their open-ended narratives. The SES-SFV satisfactorily assesses sexual assault and rape experiences in lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women. Possible additions and deletions to the SES-SFV are presented alongside discussion of managing comprehensiveness and participant fatigue.