Domestic
violence in the LGBT community is a serious
issue. The rates of domestic violence in
same-gender relationships is roughly the
same as domestic violence against
heterosexual women. As in opposite-gendered
couples, the problem is likely
underreported. Facing a system which is
often oppressive and hostile towards those
who identify as anything other than
"straight", those involved in same-gender
battering frequently report being afraid of
revealing their sexual orientation or the
nature of their relationship.
Additionally, even those who attempt to
report violence in their alterative
relationship run into obstacles. Police
officers, prosecutors, judges and others to
whom a LGBT victim may turn to for help may
have difficulty in providing the same level
of service as to a heterosexual victim. Not
only might personal attitudes towards the
LGBT community come into play, but these
providers may have inadequate levels of
experience and training to work with LGBT
victims and flimsy or non-existent laws to
enforce on behalf of the victim.
Although much advancement has been made in
the provision of services, the enforcement
of the law, and the equality of protections
available to those in LGBT relationships
over the last decade, it is important for
you to be aware of your rights and options
as they relate to your attempt to escape an
abusive relationship.
Domestic
violence, or intimate partner violence (IPV),
is a pattern of coercive behaviors that
includes one or more of the following:
physical abuse or the threat of physical
abuse, psychological abuse, rape, sexual
assault, progressive social isolation,
deprivation, intimidation, and/or economic
coercion. Domestic violence or IPV is
perpetrated against current or former
intimate partners with whom the perpetrator
dated, engaged in a chiefly sexual
relationship, married or cohabited.
Adults and adolescents can perpetrate IPV or
be survivors of IPV. Abuse can include
physical, emotional, sexual, or economic
abuse, as well as threats, intimidation, and
isolation. For LGBTQ people in
relationships, an abusing partner may also
use the weapons of heterosexism and
homophobia and threaten to “out” an abused
partner in situation where the abused is not
out. IPV happens in every part of our
community, to people of every race,
ethnicity, class, age, ability or
disability, education level, and religion.
LINKS:
Rainbow Response
Rainbow Domestic Violence
Aardvarc: Domestic Violence in Gay & Lesbian
Relationships
DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Pride Counseling: Domestic Violence
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & ABUSE
Types of Abusive & Coercive Behaviors
Physical
Abuse: Hitting, choking, slapping, burning,
shoving, hitting with objects/using a
weapon, or restraining.
Restricting Freedom: Controlling whom you
can see, what groups or organizations you
can be in, what you can read or know about,
what movies you can see, where you can go.
Emotional Abuse: Criticizing you,
humiliating you, lying to you, neglecting
you, causing you to feel degraded.
Threats and intimidation: Threatening to
harm children, family, friends or pets.
Threatening to report your sexual identity,
HIV or citizenship status to the authorities
or others.
Economic Abuse: Taking control of your money
or stealing it, running up debts, making you
dependent against your will.
Sexual Abuse: Rape, forcing sex or certain
sex acts, forcing sex with others,
assaulting parts of your body, withholding
sex, criticizing sexual performance,
refusing safer sex, disrespecting “safe
words” or violating boundaries of a “scene.”
Destruction of Property: Damaging personal
object or clothing, overturning or breaking
furniture, vandalizing the home, throwing or
smashing things, destroying clothes.
HIV-related Abuse: Getting in the way of
medical treatment, withholding medications,
destroying important documents, threatening
to reveal HIV status to friends, family,
employers, immigration or governmental
authorities.
Heterosexist Control: Threatening to “out”
you to others in situations where you have
chosen not to come out or feel it is unsafe
to do so.
LINKS:
Myths About LGBT Domestic Violence
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program
Suite 101: LGBT Domestic Violence
Lambda: Domestic Violence in Lesbian, Gay &
Bisexual Relationships
Resources for LGBT Domestic Violence
ABA Commission on Domestic Violence
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Survey of Recent Statistics
According to the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, domestic violence occurs within same-sex relationships as it does in heterosexual relationships. The acronym LGBT is often used and stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
11% of
lesbians reported violence by their female
partner and 15% of gay men who had lived
with a male partner reported being
victimized by a male partner.
Of the LGBT
victims who sought services from the New
York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence
Project, 36% of clients in 2003 and 38% of
clients in 2004 filed police reports
regarding intimate partner violence.
Eighty-eight
percent of victims in 2003 and 91 percent of
victims in 2004 reported experiencing prior
incidents of abuse, with the majority (45
percent and 47 percent, respectively)
reporting having experienced more than 10
prior incidents.
One survey
found that same-sex cohabitants reported
significantly more intimate partner violence
than did opposite-sex cohabitants. Among
women, 39.2% of the same-sex cohabitants and
21.7 of the opposite- sex cohabitants
reported being raped, physically assaulted,
and/or stalked by a marital/cohabiting
partner at some time in their lifetime.
15.4% of same-sex cohabiting men reported being raped, physically assaulted and/or stalked by a male partner, but 10.8% reported such violence by a female partner.