Gender and Interpersonal Violence Among Young Adults Experiencing Housing Instability: The Role of Firearms

Background and Purpose: Young adults experiencing homelessness and housing instability (YAEH) are regularly exposed to interpersonal violence, including sexual assault, human trafficking, and intimate partner violence (IPV). The risks of victimization while living on the street are further compounded among women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Researchers have identified a link between prior criminal victimization and gun ownership among women, yet no studies to date have examined this dynamic in YAEH. The aims of this study are twofold: one, to describe the prevalence and risk of sexual assault, trafficking, IPV (victimization and perpetration), and gun carriage among YAEH in two U.S cities; secondly, to examine the link between interpersonal violence and gun carriage in this population.

Methods: A convenience sample of young adults age 18-25 recruited from drop-in centers in Los Angeles and St. Louis completed researcher-administered, computer-assisted questionnaires regarding their life experiences, mental and behavioral health, and violence exposure (N = 589). The survey included questions from the Behavioral Risk Youth Surveillance System to assess sexual assault and IPV perpetration and validated measures such as the Quick Youth Indicators of Trafficking and Composite Abuse Scale-Short Form. Outcome variables were dichotomized. Using STATA, we built a series of bivariate and logistic regression models examining the association between lifetime gun ownership and carriage with interpersonal violence (sexual assault and rape, human trafficking, and IPV victimization and perpetration among those in a relationship [n = 357]). Covariates included age, gender identity, sexual orientation, and race.

Results: Experiences of interpersonal violence among YAEH were common, with many reporting sexual assault (25.8% n = 151), rape (25.3%, n = 148), trafficking (13%, n = 76), IPV victimization (35.9%, n = 128), and IPV perpetration (19.3%, n = 69). Sixty-one participants reported their intimate partner threatening or using a firearm against them (17.1%). Over one-fifth (23.3%, n = 137) owned a gun and 40.6% (n = 238) had carried a gun. Gun ownership was associated with higher odds of IPV victimization (OR 1.05, CI = 1.01-1.11). Gun carriage was associated with IPV perpetration (OR 1.18, CI = 1.03-1.35). Women, transgender or non-binary individuals, and LGBQ people were less likely than cisgender males to have owned or carried a firearm. Survivors of rape were also significantly less likely than those who had not been so victimized to own a firearm.

Conclusion and Implications: Our findings add further evidence to the growing body of scholarship demonstrating the relationship between IPV and firearms specifically. Yet interventions for IPV and firearm violence are often siloed or do not take into account the unhoused experience, where gun carriage may be viewed by many as necessary for protection. Social justice work that simultaneously addresses the interpersonal risks and structural factors contributing to firearm carriage and violence is urgently needed. Bold policy proposals and innovative harm reduction programs would be especially transformative for young adults experiencing homelessness and housing instability.