{"id":25519,"date":"2015-09-21T04:26:13","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T08:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/heres-why-we-need-a-bisexual-awareness-week\/"},"modified":"2015-09-21T04:26:13","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T08:26:13","slug":"heres-why-we-need-a-bisexual-awareness-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/heres-why-we-need-a-bisexual-awareness-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week<\/b><\/p>\n

There is an epidemic of sexual violence against bisexual<\/a> women<\/a>, and it’s invisible.<\/p>\n

Even most LGBT activists and sexual assault activists are unaware of the statistics that while straight women<\/a> have a 17% chance of being raped and lesbian<\/a> women<\/a> have a 13% chance, bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> have a 46% chance of being raped. In other words, bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> are approximately three times more likely to be raped. Bisexual women<\/a> also have higher rates<\/a> of sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, and stalking, compared to both straight and lesbian<\/a> women<\/a>. In addition to this, bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> survivors have the lowest rates<\/a> of social support when disclosing trauma, the highest rates of depression and PTSD after rape, and the most negative experiences when seeking help from formal support resources such as rape crisis centers, therapists, police, and medical professionals.<\/p>\n

There are many complex reasons for this huge disparity in rates of violence, but the simplest reason is that bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> are hypersexualized, fetishized, and sexually objectified in our culture and media. Bisexual women<\/a> are stereotyped as slutty, pretending to be bi<\/a> for sexual attention, and always interested in sex<\/a> (particularly threesomes). Basically, we are not viewed as people but as sexual objects, always eager to fulfill men<\/a>’s pornographic fantasies. Our consent doesn’t matter, because our bisexual<\/a> identity is perceived as automatic consent to anyone and everyone who might be interested in us.<\/p>\n

Additionally, bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> can be victims of corrective rape, a hate crime in which someone is raped because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, usually in an attempt to “fix” them. Bi women<\/a> are also more likely to end up in abusive relationships, in part because abusers are good at targeting vulnerable people who have poor social support, and also because abusers can use biphobia to threaten their partner, lower their self-esteem, or pressure them into sex<\/a> against their will.<\/p>\n

Biphobia also presents a huge barrier to receiving help in the aftermath of an assault — the stereotype that bi<\/a> women<\/a> are slutty liars, for example, may lead to friends and family to doubt a bi<\/a> woman<\/a> survivor when she comes forward. Biphobia also leads to social isolation and causes many support resources, such as sexual assault centers and counseling, to be unsafe for bi<\/a> women<\/a>. Bi women<\/a> survivors who are marginalized in other ways face even further barriers to help — trans<\/a> bi<\/a> women<\/a>, bi<\/a> women<\/a> of color, and disabled bi<\/a> women<\/a> survivors are some of the most vulnerable in our community.<\/p>\n

If you find these numbers shocking, you are not alone. I was shocked too, when I learned these statistics a couple<\/a> of years ago. I was even more surprised to learn that despite all of this, there are absolutely no rape recovery resources for bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> — no organizations, crisis centers, support groups, books, nothing. So last October, I started the Bi Women Support Network<\/a> on tumblr. In less than a year, we have grown to nearly 2,500 followers, and we have mailed out care packages and Christmas cards, organized a Facebook support group and a pen pal program, published posts on biphobia and rape recovery, and answered countless questions from bi<\/a> women<\/a> survivors.<\/p>\n

I am very proud of my work, but more needs to be done for this community. When three out of four bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> are sexual assault survivors, we need more than a tumblr funded by donations and managed by college students in their spare time. I have heard from far too many survivors that our blog is the best — and sometimes only — recovery resource they have. I am honored that we have been able to help these women<\/a>, but I am heartbroken that their friends, family, and community have turned their backs on them.<\/p>\n

It is time for the national dialogue on LGBT rights and equality to address the issue of sexual violence in our community. It is also time for the dialogue on sexual assault to address intersectionality and amplify the voices of marginalized survivors. During Bi Visibility Week, please do not allow this epidemic of sexual violence against bi<\/a> women<\/a> to remain invisible.<\/p>\n

LINDSAY KIRKHAM is a Point Scholar and the founder of the Bi Women Support Network.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lindsey Kirkham<\/p>\n

www.advocate.com\/commentary\/2015\/9\/21\/heres-why-we-need-bisexual-awareness-week<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week There is an epidemic of sexual violence against bisexual<\/a> women<\/a>, and it’s invisible. Even most LGBT activists and sexual assault activists are unaware of the statistics that while straight women<\/a> have a 17% chance of being raped and lesbian<\/a> women<\/a> have a 13% chance, bisexual<\/a> women<\/a> have … Continue reading Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHere's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/heres-why-we-need-a-bisexual-awareness-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week There is an epidemic of sexual violence against bisexual women, and it’s invisible. 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