Intersectionality

INTERSECTIONALITY AS A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING SEXUAL VIOLENCE

We know that people of all genders can perpetrate or experience sexual violence, and people of all genders deserve to be believed and supported in their healing journeys. We also know that viewing sexual violence through a gendered lens allows us to see patterns that help us address the root cause of it. More specifically, the majority of people committing acts of sexual violence are men and the majority of people experiencing it are women.²

Beyond a gendered lens, intersectionality helps us understand the patterns of sexual violence even more clearly. It illuminates the reality that those who live at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities—like Indigenous women, women living with disabilities, or trans people of colour—experience sexual violence at higher rates.³ For example, women living with disabilities experience two times the amount of violence as women living without disabilities. Women living with disabilities who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, experience two times the amount of violence as women living with disabilities who identify as straight.⁴

Intersectionality also allows us to understand the barriers that people face when choosing to disclose or report their experiences of sexual violence. For example, Black women are less likely to report their experiences of sexual violence out of fear of not being believed or not having access to culturally competent resources,⁵ and men convicted of raping a white woman face harsher penalties than men convicted of raping a Black woman.⁶