Objective: to identify the sociodemographic profile of nursing students who suffered gender violence and to know the characteristics of the violence that occurred in this population.
Method: a cross-sectional study with 91 nursing students from a public university in southeastern Brazil, between September 2019 and January 2020. A sociodemographic questionnaire and the World Health Organization Violence Against Women, section 10 were used.
Results: approximately 65% suffered some form of gender violence during their lifetime, mainly perpetrated by family members. 41.7% were victims of physical aggression, 23% suffered sexual harassment, 30.8% suffered sexual abuse. There was a pattern of intergenerational violence (p<0.001), vulnerability of self-declared lesbians and/or bisexuals (p=0.705), Christian or evangelical (p<0.001).
Conclusion: gender violence was high among those surveyed. The experience of forms of violence can damage students' lives. There is a need for attention from teaching institutions and professors in addressing the theme.