# Advancing help-seeking and recovery measures for sexual and gender minority survivors of gender-based violence

> **NIH NIH R21** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2024 · $250,709

## Abstract

Project Summary
Research has documented that gender-based violence (GBV; e.g. intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child abuse,
hate-motivated violence) disproportionately impacts sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations, with unaddressed
victimization experiences representing a key driver of SGM health disparities (e.g., suicidality, substance use, depression,
HIV transmission, morbidity, mortality). To advance from identifying these disparities to intervening, research that
evaluates SGM barriers to seeking help and GBV recovery needs, as well as the social, cultural, and structural influences
of these processes at multiple levels is required. There is a scarcity of tools to measure GBV-specific concepts validated in
SGM populations, with no current instruments to measure the help-seeking barriers SGM survivors face and their
recovery progress. Thus, there is a critical need to develop these instruments to inform acceptable and effective
interventions to increase the access, engagement, care linkages, and effectiveness of survivor support infrastructure for
SGM populations. Through an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach, we aim to: 1) develop an SGM Barriers
to Help-seeking and an SGM GBV Healing Scale and 2) psychometrically evaluate these instruments. Study aims will
draw on four sequentially collected sources of data: a) an existing dataset of SGM ethnographic narrative interviews
(N=40, n=20 gender minority survivors), b) data gathered from our community advisory board (N=10), c) cognitive
interviews with SGM survivors (N=35), and d) a national online survey (N=1000), with quota sampling to ensure
adequate representation of cisgender, sexual minority men, cisgender, sexual minority women, and transgender/ otherwise
gender expansive people, purposively sampled to achieve maximum diversity in race and ethnicity. A community
advisory board with SGM GBV survivors, clinicians, scientific experts, and community stakeholders will be engaged
throughout the research process ensuring potential impact and sustainability. This study is innovative because it uses rich
community-engaged approaches to articulate help-seeking and recovery experiences at multiple levels, incorporating
SGM survivors at all stages of the process, with an emphasis on recovery rather than deficit. In turn, the instruments
created are expected to open new horizons in SGM survivorship research and practice, specifically the ability to
illuminate SGM recovery needs and prioritize interventions to mitigate drivers of SGM health disparities at multiple
levels of influence. Successful completion of this project is expected to have a positive impact by enhancing our ability to:
1) evaluate future help-seeking and recovery intervention effectiveness, 2) enhance help-seeking and recovery exploration
in SGM populations, and 3) determine how changes in policy influence help-seeking and recovery for SGM populations.
The study's key deliverables will include two instrume...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10988796
- **Project number:** 1R21MD019089-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Marie Sinko
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $250,709
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-21 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10988796

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10988796, Advancing help-seeking and recovery measures for sexual and gender minority survivors of gender-based violence (1R21MD019089-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10988796. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*