No Pride in Domestic Abuse.

Approximately 25% of people in the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender community suffer from Domestic Abuse within relationships. However, it is considered that domestic abuse within these communities is underreported, as the persons are fearful that their sexual orientation, gender orientation or the nature of their relationship may be revealed.

There are many parallels between LGBT people’s experience of Domestic Abuse and that of people within a heterosexual relationship. Domestic Abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviours, and may be a single incident or a pattern of behaviours. Domestic Abuse includes intimate partner abuse, but also includes abuse perpetrated by family members. Domestic abuse is, but is not limited to:

• Physical Abuse, Acts of violence and/ or threatening behaviours.
• Verbal Abuse.
• Emotional Abuse.
• Psychological Abuse and/or Gaslighting.
• Sexual Abuse, data shows that there is a higher incident of Sexual abuse within the LGBT community.
• Controlling or coercive behaviours.
• Economic Abuse.

However, there are aspects of Domestic Abuse that are unique to the LGBT community. These are, but are not limited to:

• ‘Outing’ as a method of control. An abuser may threaten to reveal a victim’s sexual orientation/ gender identity to friends, family, religious communicates, co-workers, and others as a method of control.
• Gaslighting. An abuser may tell the victim that no-one will help them or that they deserve the abuse because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• Denial. An abuser may deny a victim’s identity, or reject the victim’s identity, as the identity may not conform with the abuser’s definition of the label the victim chooses. For example, ‘You have had a relationship with a woman, so you are not really gay.’ Or an abuser may refuse to call a person by their chosen pronoun, such as they/them/ theirs, she/her/ hers, he/him/his, purposefully misgendering a victim or referring to a victim as ‘it’.
• Sexual Abuse. 44% of Lesbian, 61% of Bisexual women and 37% of Bisexual men experience rape and sexual abuse by an intimate partner, compared to 35% of straight women and 29% of straight men.
• Isolation. An abuser may isolate their partner from the LGBT community, by preventing them attending LGBT events/ venues, preventing them form seeing friends within the community and can even prevent them from joining online community groups or reading any LGBT papers/magazines, particularly when a victim is in their first LGBT relationship, and they may not have had much contact with the community beforehand.

These examples above are not limited to LGBT persons and can extend into the whole LGTBQ+ community. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community can be reluctant to reach out for support, due to the fact they do not want to disclose their sexuality or gender identity to Police and other organisations, due to the general homophobia and transphobia in modern society.

If you or anyone you know is being subjected to domestic abuse, please contact the Domestic Violence and Abuse Department (DVAD) for expert advice as to what protective measures are available, either by clicking on the links, or by telephoning Johnson Astills on 0116 255 4855.