Domestic Violence Increase in LGBT Relationships

A new report released by the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP) this week found that domestic violence in LGBT relationships increased 16% in 2003 and 21% in 2004.
Clarence Patton, acting director of AVP, notes that, “In 2004 alone, there was a 35 percent increase in serious injuries and a 71 percent increase in deaths or murders that occurred as a result of the violence.”
Why? Diane R. Dolan-Soto, AVP’s director of programs and co-author of the report, does not think that increased reporting is the only culprit. Dolan-Soto explains that: “We’re living in a society that is in the middle of a war, that condones violence against LGBT folks, and is even willing to codify in the constitution that gays don’t have legal rights. And for some gay people that equates to increased stress and pressure on LGBT people and couples and internalized homophobia. The partner that can’t control his or her anger is turning that on the other partner.”
Even worse is the limited number of legal protections available to victims of these crimes. In New York State, for example, domestic violence victims cannot gain access to Family Court to obtain orders of protection unless they are married or have a child in common with their partners. Another problem is emergency shelter — particularly for gay men fleeing violence.
Patton explains that: “When I started at AVP in 1996 there was one bed for a man, only available when a woman wasn’t there. Just the very way in which we talk about what domestic violence is in our community can fly in the face of the historic paradigm that the anti-domestic violence movement is built on. It comes out of women’s rights movement that women and victims and men are batterers. We say that is not always the case. When you’re trying to move brick and mortar operations like shelter space, which is already limited, you have to look at building a bigger pie.” Wow — we still have a long way to go.
If you or someone you know is a victim of intimate partner violence in an LGBT relationship, call AVP’s 24-hour confidential hotline at 212.714.1141.
To read the full report, click here.