Domestic disharmony

Same sex domestic violence raises some interesting questions. Should it be placed under the umbrella of domestic violence? Is it comparable to heterosexual domestic violence? Do officers view it with prejudiced eyes? And is the policing response adequate when dealing with incidents of same sex domestic violence? Damian Small reports

A major study conducted by the universities of Bristol and Sunderland sheds light on some of the above questions. Comparing Domestic Abuse in Same Sex and Heterosexual Relationships, published at the end of 2006, reveals that most survivors of domestic abuse do not report it to organisations such as the police and domestic abuse agencies.

The report suggests this is partly because victims do not recognise offences as domestic abuse, and instead feel it is their own responsibility, partly because they do not believe they will get a sympathetic response.

It concludes that training and awareness-raising about domestic abuse in same sex relationships is needed in public agencies, particularly those in the criminal justice, domestic violence and Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) areas.

“The study is the most comprehensive ever undertaken into domestic abuse in same sex relationships in Britain and is the first in the UK to directly compare domestic abuse across same sex and heterosexual relationships,” said report author Professor Marianne Hester of the University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies.

Respondents to the study indicated that, as in heterosexual relationships, a considerable number experienced domestic abuse at some time, and as with heterosexual female survivors, post-separation abuse by ex-partners is a “sizeable problem in same sex domestically abusive” relationships.

“Of those who said they had experienced domestic abuse, just over one in five (22 per cent) did not seek help from anyone,” said Prof Hester. “Of those who did seek help, more than half contacted friends rather than statutory agencies.”

Just one in ten contacted the police, the report revealed. This is in stark contrast to the much greater contact rate by female domestic abuse victims as recorded in the British Crime Survey.

A key problem identified, said Prof Hester, is that the traditional model of domestic abuse involving a male and a female, in which the overwhelming majority of those experiencing abuse are female, hinders people in a same sex relationship from understanding that they may also be experiencing domestic abuse.

She added that a lack of awareness and appropriate training among police, GPs and domestic abuse agencies in turn hinders such groups from responding in an appropriate way.

What the study says

“While domestic abuse in heterosexual relationships has been of increasing public concern in the UK since the 1970s, domestic abuse in same sex communities has only more recently become apparent,” said Prof Hester.

She added that a number of factors may be seen to have contributed to the greater invisibility of same sex domestic abuse, including “fears of making obvious such problems within communities already considered ‘problematic’ in a homophobic society”.

“The issue is sensitive and has only very recently been identified as such within LGBT communities in Britain,” said Prof Hester.

The questionnaire was designed to examine experiences of abuse as well as the context for the behaviour, and to ensure comparison with earlier surveys of heterosexual and/or LGBT communities.

It asked about respondents’ same sex relationships: how decisions are made and conflict resolved; any experiences of emotional, physical or sexual abusive behaviours from partners in the last 12 months and prior to that; and their own use of abusive behaviours; impacts of abusive behaviour; and experiences of help seeking.

Eight hundred people responded to the survey, which the researchers set up as five focus groups with lesbians, gay men and heterosexual women and men of differen