RESEARCH ARTICLE Histories of forced sex and

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Researchers have begun to document the prevalence and effects of forced sex among women in Southern Africa [1,2]. However, the specific experiences of lesbian and bi-sexual women remain unexplored. Given evidence of high rates of sexual violence in these countries [2,3] and human rights reports documenting the violence that targets lesbian and bisexual women specifically [4-7], experiences of forced sex among lesbian and bisexual women are likely to be prevalent. This study is the first to explore psycho-social and health outcomes of forced sex experiences of Southern African lesbian and bisexual women. Based on the same project, we reported earlier on HIV testing and self-reported HIV prevalence in this population [8]. The four countries included in this study (Botswana