Previous research has documented that high percentages of drug users have experienced a history of physical or sexual abuse. The authors use qualitative and quantitative data obtained from 1,181 Puerto Rican drug users to examine their experiences with physical and sexual abuse by family members, intimate partners, police, and sex work clients. Differences in gender, developmental stage in which the abuse was first experienced, and primary living location (New York or Puerto Rico) were under examination. Participants included 799 Puerto Rican drug users who were living in New York at the time of the study and 382 Puerto Rican drug users who were residing in Puerto Rico. Two hundred and ninety-seven participants were female while 884 participants were male. Results of statistical analysis and qualitative analysis of 21 life histories revealed that female drug users were significantly more likely than male drug users to report physical abuse by a family member during childhood and unwanted sex during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The results underscore the need to target age-specific intervention efforts at females who are at high-risk for experiencing abuse. References