New Research: Homophobic Name-Calling, Bullying, and Sexual Violence Perpetration

Longitudinal Examination of the Bullying-Sexual Violence Pathway across Early to Late Adolescence: Implicating Homophobic Name-Calling is the first study of its kind to examine how homophobic name-calling is associated with bullying in middle school and sexual violence perpetration in high school. This expands what we currently know from the Bullying-Sexual Violence Pathway. We’ve seen in previous studies that bullying perpetration is associated with sexual violence and sexual harassment perpetration later in life, and this new research article examines how homophobic name-calling fits in to this pathway.

The article found that youth who use homophobic name-calling in their bullying are at a six times greater risk of perpetrating sexual violence or sexual harassment in high school. This also means that promoting positive gender norms, preventing bullying based on sex and gender, and engaging in such prevention efforts in elementary school and early childhood can drastically decrease sexual violence perpetration among high school students.

To read the entire article, including information on differences observed between sexes, go to this link. For inspiration on prevention strategies, check out STOP SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence and the Prevent Bullying web resource page, both from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.