When you usually hear the words “domestic violence” or you usually think of a heterosexual, married couple with the husband enacting violence against his wife. Yes, this is tragic and happens daily, however, more light needs to be shined on LGBTQ+ couples and domestic violence among the community as well. This is why “intimate partner violence” has been a term more commonly used to help break that barrier.
Intimate partner violence and sexual violence among LGBTQ+ couples happen equally as often, if not more often than in heterosexual couples according to recent research. According to The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, in 2010, 43.8% of women who identify as lesbian experienced IPV compared to 35.0% of heterosexual women. For men, 26.0% of gay identifying men compared to 29.0% of heterosexual men experienced IPV. I want to note that in both cases of men and women, bisexual individuals experienced the most IPV; 61.1% of women and 37.3% of men.
From these statistics, we can firstly see that there is a huge gender difference with women being victims more often than men. However, we can also see, except for in men, that LGBTQ+ identifying individuals are more likely to experience IPV. Looking closer, it is also apparent that bisexual individuals on average experience IPV at more rates than all other categories. This could be because of the general stigma around bisexual individuals in both heterosexual and LGBTQ+ relationships. People used to assume that bisexual individuals were either straight and lying or vice versa, gay and lying. Perhaps because of these negative ideas bisexual individuals, on average, are more often to experience intimate partner violence.
For sexual violence by any perpetrator, there is also a large difference between LGBTQ+ and heterosexual individuals. For women, any sexual violence, not including rape, lesbians were 46.4% compared to 43.3% for heterosexual women. For men, 40.2% of gay men and 20.8% of heterosexual men experienced sexual violence. Again, for both men and women bisexual individuals were more likely to experience violence, with women being at 74.9% and men at 47.4%.
Again, from these statistics, we can see the difference between women and men, and LGBTQ+ and heterosexuals. As well as the disproportionate effect on bisexual individuals.
It is also important to note that there are several aspects of IPV that can be unique to the LGBTQ+ community. This can include “outing” someone or threatening to do so as a tool of abuse for individuals who aren’t out or can’t be “out” for specific reasons. This can also reduce the reporting by LGBTQ+ individuals because of the fear of being “outed.”
I want to note that IPV or sexual violence of any kind is something that needs to be fought from every side, including from LGBTQ+ views and heterosexual views. However, as I mentioned in the beginning, there needs to be a larger push for helping LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing IPV to ensure that everyone is getting help as best as they can and are able to escape their perpetrators.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf
https://ncadv.org/blog/posts/domestic-violence-and-the-lgbtq-community