Sexual victimization and family violence among urban African American adolescent women: do violence cluster profiles predict partner violence victimization and sex trade exposure?

Guided by an intersectional feminist perspective, we examined sexual victimization, witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) in the family, and familial physical abuse among a sample of 180 urban African American adolescent women. We used cluster analysis to better understand the profiles of cumulative victimization, and the relationships between profiles and IPV victimization and personal exposure to the sex trade. Just under one third of the sample reported sexual victimization, with cooccurrence with both forms of family violence common. The cluster profile with high levels of severe family violence was associated with the highest rate of IPV victimization and sex trade exposure.