We live in a society in which violence within
intimate relationships is epidemic.
“I didn’t realize it was that
abusive. I knew it made my life hell but I didn’t
think of it as abuse until I was out of it and saw it clearly for what
it was.”
- Lesbian, age 28, Roanoke, VA1
It happens in marriages, life partnerships, and dating
relationships. It
victimizes heterosexuals, gay men,
lesbians, bisexuals, and
transgendered individuals.
“It was a friend. The first gay
person I ever knew. I really was reaching out
for the first time trying to find a mentor. He was older, and I wanted
to learn
what it was like to be gay in my rural community… but then this
happened”
- Gay, queer, male, age 23, Richmond, VA2
It’s not mere fighting, mutual aggression, or lovers’ quarrels.
Domestic
violence is a mechanism which serves to control,
dominate and establish
power over an intimate partner.
“Last night he beat me up pretty bad, destroyed my cell phone, and threw my computer out the window. Luckily I wasn’t too hurt
this time, but I am a mess and afraid of what he will do next time…I am being terrorized in my own home.”
– Gay male, DV
survivor, age 32, Columbus, Ohio
One in four LGBT individuals experience domestic
violence in their
relationships4 - the same rate at
which heterosexual women
are victimized.
1Equality
Virginia Education Fund Anti-Violence Project, “The State of
Violence in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer
Communities of Virginia.”
2Equality
Virginia Education Fund Anti-Violence Project.
3National
Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
and Transgender Domestic Violence in the United States in 2007."
4Carrie
Brown, “Gender Role Implications on Same-Sex Intimate Partner
Abuse,” Journal of Family
Violence, 23 (2008): 457-462.
South Carolina Legal
Information
Shayla Cataldo