"For Fear that They Would Turn Away from me": From Transgressing Boundaries to Sexual Abuse in Spanish Autistic Women and Non-Binary People.

Background: Autistic women and non-binary people experience higher rates of abuse, including sexual abuse, with different negative repercussions for their mental health. This study aimed to analyze the risk factors that lead autistic women and non-binary people to become victims of sexual abuse. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven women and two non-binary people, all of them Spanish and with a late diagnosis of autism. We analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: We generated four main themes as follows: (1) crossing their own boundaries to belong to a group, (2) maintaining the relationship at all costs, (3) abuse by their relationships, and (4) relationships today. We highlight a gradient of severity of the abusive behavior that includes the transgression of boundaries in the first phases of the relationship to fit in with the group, which results in the normalization of abusive behaviors and a lack of identification of these. This escalation of violence by their partners leads them, in most cases, to experience sexual abuse, which they become aware of sometime later. Conclusion: We must address abuse as a social issue and a process of awareness in the population so that autistic people are not pressured to alter their authentic selves to gain acceptance within society. Community Brief: