Gender nonconforming children are at greater risk of victimization, particularly boys
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Gender nonconforming youth are more likely to experience rejection and verbal, physical and sexual abuse from both parents and peers.
Gender nonconforming children, particularly boys, experience victimization. They are more likely to be rejected and verbally abused by their parents, and they suffer higher levels of both depression and PTSD. Men who identify as both gay and ‘effeminate’ report more sexual abuse in childhood. This may be related to the general low value given to ‘feminine’ behaviours and characteristics. Possibly as a result, boys are less likely to be gender nonconforming than girls.
Gender identity and child development
Children learn gender labels when very young, at 18 to 21 months, shaped by parental behaviour and expectations. For example, parents give girl and boy toddlers different toys, and they often expect boys to be better at crawling than girls. At two years, children can already feel atypical if they are not like others of their own gender.
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