Special Issue: Violence and Related Health Outcomes in Sexual & Gender Minority Communities

In 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored a multi-phase scientific workshop, “Violence & Related Health Outcomes in Sexual & Gender Minority (SGM) Communities.” The agenda for this workshop was informed by the feedback received from research investigators, community representatives, patient and family advocates, scientific and professional organizations, federal partners, internal NIH stakeholders, and other interested members of the public from a wide range of disciplines, in response to NIH’s “Request for Information (RFI) on Research Opportunities Related to the National Institutes of Health Scientific Workshop on Violence and Related Health Outcomes in Sexual and Gender Minority Communities"

Participants of this workshop identified key research priorities, and stressed the importance of community collaboration, which together are needed to advance our understanding of violence in SGM communities and its consequences. Learn more.

Although violence affects every community, violence occurs against SGM individuals at higher rates. The World Health Organization defines violence as the “intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” To further advance the understanding of the impact of violence on health within sexual and gender minority communities, LGBT Health, with support from NIH, will be publishing a Special Issue devoted to Violence and Related Health Outcomes in Sexual & Gender Minority Communities. LGBT Health invites your submissions for consideration for this Special Issue. 

We welcome manuscripts from scholars across various fields in the format of original research articles, reviews, short reports, perspectives, and commentaries, including manuscripts that address best practices, public policy, and program evaluation. Submissions should be focused on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Demographics and Epidemiology related to the incidence, prevalence, and distribution of violence in SGM communities
• Risk Factors and Pathways related to conditions, contexts, or other variables that increase the likelihood of being impacted by violence across the life course in SGM individuals and in SGM communities, whether as victim and/or perpetrator, with a particular interest in the consideration of social and economic structures
• Preventive Interventions designed to address the emergence of violence in SGM communities (including within interpersonal relationships) as well as potential adaptation of existing evidence based preventive interventions to the unique social, contextual, and structural needs of SGM populations
• Treatment-related Interventions that could reduce perpetration or exposure to violence in SGM individuals and communities and subsequently impact health related outcomes 
• Ethical, Legal, and Structural Challenges related to conducting research on exposure to or experience of victimization and perpetration of violence in SGM populations

Manuscript submission guidelines are available on the LGBT Health website: 

Deadline for Manuscript Submission: March 31, 2023

Visit the Instructions for Authors or Submit your paper:

*This special issue is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).