BCPHR Logo Horizontal
Search
Close this search box.

The Broken Promises of the Lesbian Utopia: Woman to Woman Intimate Partner Abuse

By Mary Martin, BSW Alesha Kotian, BS

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Citation

Martin M, Kotian A. The broken promisees of the lesbian utopia: woman to woman intimate partner abuse. HPHR. 2023;49. 10.54111/0001/XX1

The Broken Promises of the Lesbian Utopia: Woman to Woman Intimate Partner Abuse

Abstract

The feminist movement of 1970s America notoriously prioritized issues faced by white, heterosexual women. The movement’s leaders explicitly distanced themselves from lesbian members out of fear of “lesbian baiting,” a sexist and homophobic tactic employed by anti-feminists to discredit the feminist movement by blanket-labeling its members as lesbians. In contract, others embraced “lesbian feminism,” a feminist movement that sought to prioritize issues faced by predominantly white lesbian women. These lesbian feminists promoted the concept of the “lesbian utopia,” which posited that lesbian relationships are “gender empty,” thus fundamentally egalitarian and devoid of interpersonal violence. A predominantly heterosexist culture further fueled this concept, layering it with homophobic stereotypes, including dismissing woman to woman intimate partner abuse (WWIPA), intimate partner violence occurring in a relationship between two sexual minority women, as a “catfight” or “mutual abuse.” Together, the lesbian utopia and heterosexism acted synergistically to erase the experiences of victim/survivors of WWIPA. Despite the promises of the lesbian utopia, sexual minority women are just as or more likely than heterosexual women to experience IPV and its adverse mental health outcomes. However, sexual minority victim/survivors face additional barriers to receiving support. Sexual minority women report formal support systems such as domestic violence shelters and police departments to be last-resort options out of fear of experiencing discrimination or compounding trauma. For sexual minority women of color and transgender women, these stressors are further compounded by experiences of racism and transphobia. Public health interventions centering diversity, inclusion and social justice to provide adequate support and healthcare services to victim/survivors of WWIPA are needed.

Introduction

White, heterosexual women dominated the feminist movement in 1970s America. 

 

Many of the movement’s leaders explicitly distanced themselves from their lesbian members out of fear of “lesbian baiting,” a sexist and homophobic tactic employed by anti-feminists to discredit the feminist movement by blanket-labeling its members as lesbians.1-4 In contrast, some embraced “lesbian feminism,” a feminism that sought to prioritize issues faced by predominantly White lesbian women.2 These lesbian feminists promoted the concept of the “lesbian utopia,” which claimed that lesbian relationships are “gender empty,” thus fundamentally egalitarian.4 Wendt5 further elaborated on this concept, positing “that lesbian relationships are egalitarian, [that] lesbians do not oppress or beat each other…[that] women only use violence in cases of self-defense, and [that] even if they did [use violence], women are not big enough to really hurt each other.” These ideas paved the groundwork for the notion that interpersonal violence (IPV), defined as “abuse or aggression that occurs in a close relationship,”6 could not occur in lesbian relationships. A predominantly heterosexist culture further fueled this concept, layering it with homophobic stereotypes. While heterosexist culture and lesbian feminism are in almost all respects mutually exclusive, together they synergistically validated the lesbian utopia. Fifty years later, the concept that IPV cannot occur in lesbian relationships perpetuates the dismissal and mischaracterization of victim/survivors’ experiences and falsely justifies the absence of LGBTQ+ specific resources. Thus, the lesbian utopia poses a serious public health concern as victim/survivors themselves struggle to identify abuse at the hands of their women-identifying partners and existing IPV resources are ill-equipped to support their physical and psychological safety.

Defining Woman to Woman Intimate Partner Abuse

Contrary to the promise of the lesbian utopia, lesbian women are just as or more likely than heterosexual women to experience IPV.6 In the most recent nationally representative study of cisgender women, the CDC reported that lesbian women were more likely than heterosexual women to experience psychological aggression, stalking, physical violence and rape committed by an intimate woman-identifying partner.6 Lesbian women also experienced adverse sequelae from IPV at similar rates as heterosexual women, including feeling fearful, reporting safety concerns and having PTSD symptoms.6 While several studies have attempted to quantify the prevalence of IPV among gender diverse lesbian women, convenience sampling has limited their generalizability.7,8 Notably, the CDC found that bisexual women were at significantly increased risk for IPV compared to both lesbian and heterosexual women, though the gender identity of the abusive partner was unknown.6 Nonetheless, the language “lesbian utopia,” “lesbian relationships,” and “lesbian IPV” fail to include sexual minority women, including bisexual, pansexual, and other sexual minority women, as well as neglect to explicitly include gender diverse women despite that these women also experience IPV at the hands of women partners. The terminology woman to woman intimate partner abuse (WWIPA)9 will be used to refer to self-identifying sexual minority women (SMW) experiencing partner abuse from a self-identifying woman partner henceforth.

Modern Implications of the Lesbian Utopia on WWIPA

The lesbian utopia promises SMW relationships free from IPV. When WWIPA does occur, victim/survivors experience immense difficulty in identifying their experiences as abusive.10-13 SMW report a general lack of awareness of WWIPA and an inability to access language to describe their WWIPA experiences.14  Heterosexism further obscures the identification of WWIPA by propagating dismissive stereotypes, such as inappropriately labeling relationships as “mutually abusive.”15 When viewing WWIPA from this heterosexist lens, features unique to WWIPA are overlooked. For example, abusers can weaponize stress related to the victim/survivors’ SMW identity to exert control over the victim/survivor. Additionally, SMW may refrain from reporting WWIPA out of fear of drawing negative attention to already stigmatized relationships.14 WWIPA must also be considered within an intersectional framework in order to be inclusive of the experiences of racially and gender diverse SMW. In sum, the myth of the lesbian utopia reinforces traditional gender roles that women are non-violent, which in turn invalidates victim/survivor experiences of WWIPA and exacerbates feelings of self-blame, disillusionment, and shame.12,14,16,17

Heterosexism: Dismissing and Mischaracterizing WWIPA

Within a heterosexist culture, heteronormative assumptions are inappropriately applied to WWIPA.18 For example, while there is no correlation between presenting more masculine (butch) or more feminine (femme) and abuser status, cultural assumptions about gender roles paint butch SMW as obligate abusers.3,19,20 This provides femme abusers with a unique abusive tactic known as the “feminine victim.” Exemplified during police intervention for WWIPA, femme abusers can manipulate police officer’s stereotypes by emphasizing their femininity and casting the butch victim/survivor as the abuser.12 Similarly, violence perpetrated by a femme abuser is dismissed as a “catfight,” minimizing its severity and mislabeling the abuse as mutual.12,13 The mischaracterization of WWIPA is one of many reasons that victim/survivors of WWIPA are often fearful to report IPV to police and other formal and informal support systems.21,22

 

Notably, the concept of bidirectional WWIPA, colloquially referred to as “mutual abuse”, is a controversial topic among researchers. A few studies employing quantitative analysis of survey data have suggested that WWIPA is more likely to be bidirectional than monodirectional.23-27 In contrast, numerous qualitative studies analyzing SMW’s experiences with WWIPA found bidirectional abuse to be remarkably uncommon.10,15,22 This could be explained by quantitative researcher’s inability to create space for victim/survivors to react to the abuse, or in other words, defend themselves.15 Another possible explanation for this discrepancy is that survey data is analyzed outside of a given relationship-specific context; thus researchers cannot contextualize complex dynamics and often miss asymmetrical power distributions.10,28 It is also possible that quantitative WWIPA researchers23-27 identified a third role that exists outside of the perpetrator versus victim/survivor dichotomy: the “participant role.”10,15 In the “participant role,” the victim/survivor resists the abuse from the perpetrating partner with the intent of both self-defense and retaliation.10 While the discrepancy in conclusions between quantitative and qualitative studies must be further analyzed, stereotyping WWIPA as mutual abuse is undoubtedly harmful to victim/survivors.10,15,27,28 

Understanding Identity Abuse: Unique Features of WWIPA

Denying WWIPA’s existence or dismissing it as bidirectional obscures researcher’s ability to identify features unique to WWIPA.15 The limited body of research on the topic proposes that WWIPA results from a complex interaction of minority stress, internalized homophobia, and identity abuse. Minority stress can be understood as an “excess stress to which individuals from social categories are exposed to as a result of their social/minority position.”29 Minority stress can be distal, such as objective experiences of homophobic violence, or proximal, such as subjective experiences of internalized homophobia. Perpetrators of WWIPA may weaponize the victim/survivor’s proximal minority stress, such as the victim/survivor’s internalized homophobia, to exert power and control in a unique form of abuse known as Identity Abuse (IA).30-32 Perpetrators may also be motivated by their own internalized homophobia to commit IA.19,23 In the context of WWIPA, IA refers to abuse tactics that leverage homo/bi/transphobia to exert power and control over one’s intimate partner, exacerbating minority stress.30 For example, an abuser may threaten to “out” their partner as a SMW. Notably, SMW are more likely than other members of the LGBTQ+ population to experience IA, apart from the transgender population.31,32 IA has adverse consequences on the mental health of victim/survivors, including anxiety, depression and PTSD-like symptoms.31,32

 

Despite abusive partners committing IA, victim/survivors may continue to depend on their abusive partner to cope with minority stress.13,19 For example, Ristock10 first identified a pattern of WWIPA in which an “established gay,” a well-connected and openly identifying SMW, (the abuser) intentionally dates a SMW who has never been in a same-sex relationship previously (the victim/survivor) and is not well connected to the LGBTQ+ community. Thus, the victim/survivor may depend on their abusive partner to access affirming community as well as to explore or define their own sexual minority identity. The abuser can then leverage their partner’s lack of knowledge, connection, and confidence in their identity to exert control by normalizing abuse as typical for SMW or isolating the victim/survivor from the abuser’s LGBTQ+ social network.33 The couple’s local LGBTQ+ community can further exacerbate these power dynamics by pressuring the couple to remain in their relationship to serve as role models for the community.13

Intersectional Factors

SMW of color (WOC) and transgender woman face unique vulnerabilities as victim/survivors of WWIPA. However, there is a vacuum of research seeking to understand the experiences of racially and gender diverse SMW. The limited research that does exists suggests that Black women, American Indian women, Native Hawaiians, Alaskan Native women, and transgender women may be significantly more likely to experience WWIPA, and in particular more physical and sexual abuse,34,35 than their White counterparts.20,35-37 These populations are at increased risk for social stress and poor psychological and social wellbeing.38,39 These trends can be understood within an intersectional framework in which these populations experience sexism, racism and homo/trans/biphobia from the general public as well as within the LGBTQ+ community.2,38,39 In the context of WWIPA, the abusive partner can weaponize their dominant identities to isolate, pressure and coerce the victim/survivor.40 One way this can manifest is through microaggressions, including exoticization of WOC, assumption of WOC as inferior or as a spokesperson for their identities, questioning transgender women’s gender identity, and insulting transgender women based on their perceived transition status.30,41 

Public Health Implications

The public health implications of the propagation and internalization of the lesbian utopia are numerous. WWIPA victim/survivors view formal systems, including non-profit organizations, domestic violence shelters, and law enforcement, as a last resort for seeking help.35,42,43 Fear of experiencing “compounding abuse” in the form of dismissal, discrimination, or violence in response to their sexual minority status contributes to formal systems’ last resort status.12,22,40,42,44,45 Furthermore, victim/survivors are less likely to reach out for support in the absence of queer specific resources, which in most parts of the country are non-existent.40,45,46 Domestic violence shelter services are almost exclusively tailored to heterosexual women, leading some victim/survivors to choose protection through silence or to intentionally misidentify their abusive partner as a man.42 Other victim/survivors fear seeking help from a domestic violence shelter, citing that shelters lack the capacity to screen out their abusers given the dominant assumption that women are victims of male-perpetrated violence.42 In addition, there are few mental health providers with specialized training in WWIPA.45 Victim/survivors express concerns that potential therapists’ lack of cultural competency will be re-traumatizing.21,45,47

 

The invisibility of SMW’s needs can also be observed in health outcomes. SMW are more likely to experience health disparities in preventive care access and utilization as well as preventative screenings.42 Many SMW do not disclose their sexual minority status to healthcare providers out of fear of receiving sub-optimal care.48 These fears are affirmed by studies concluding that healthcare providers report feeling uncomfortable around SMW patients and unknowledgeable about SMW’s sexual practices.44,49 When SMW choose to share their sexual minority status, they become vulnerable to healthcare providers’ biases. For example, a misconception among health care providers is that SMW are not at risk for STIs and thus do not require universally recommended STI screening.50 This belief is especially harmful for SMW victim/survivors who are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior that could lead to contracting an STI.50

Proposed Public Health Interventions

A fifty-year history of erasing, disguising, and dismissing WWIPA in the name of the lesbian utopia and in the context of a heterosexist society exacerbated the public health problem of WWIPA. Nonetheless, public health interventions provide promise to preventing WWIPA and responding to its adverse effects. Following the framework proposed by Bermea et al.,51 interventions must be based in diversity, inclusion, and social justice in order to ensure effectiveness. Most clearly, these principles can be applied to currently existing formal sources of support. Domestic violence shelters could implement anti-oppressive work by hiring a diverse workforce trained to provide culturally competent care with inclusive services specific for WWIPA victim/survivors.45 Such services could include private space for SMW, education for heterosexual victim/survivors utilizing shelters on WWIPA victim/survivorship, and community outreach informing the LGBTQ+ community on WWIPA. Police departments could provide anti-bias training to its officers and implement culturally competent protocols for intervening in suspected WWIPA scenarios to prevent victim/survivors from experiencing compounding abuse.42

The Role of Healthcare Providers in Public Health Intervention

Given SMW women’s reluctance to engage in formal systems, healthcare providers can serve as a critical resource for victim/survivors of WWIPA by first educating themselves on SMW-specific healthcare needs.43 This includes identifying WWIPA and its associated health risks, screening universally for IPV52 which includes WWIPA, and identifying resources for victim/survivors of WWIPA. One such resource created by Bloom et al.53 includes a mobile phone application with specific resources for WWIPA survivors. In a pilot trial, most victim/survivors found the application to be feasible and appropriate.53 Healthcare providers must also provide training to other providers and students, as well as advocate for healthcare trainee curriculum to include WWIPA specific training.47 To create a safe office space for patients to disclose their sexual minority status, it is crucial for providers to establish rapport with their SMW patients. When deciding whether to disclose their sexual minority status, SMW scan their healthcare provider’s office for “clues” of inclusiveness, such as a diverse staff and LGBTQ+ specific health resources.48

Conclusion

The lesbian utopia promises SMW a relationship free from IPV. When this promise is broken, SMW victim/survivors struggle to recognize their partners’ behavior as abusive.13 Heterosexist assumptions silence WWIPA victim/survivors who fear their experiences will be dismissed or mischaracterized.20 Formal support systems lack WWIPA-specific services,42 leaving victim/survivors unsupported in securing their physical and psychological safety and in coping with WWIPA-specific experiences such as Identity Abuse,32 minority stress,29 and other intersectional considerations.41 However, SMW are just as or more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to experience IPV.6 Policies funding interventions grounded in diversity, inclusion and social justice45 are needed to provide adequate support and healthcare services to victim/survivors of WWIPA.

Disclosure Statement

The authors would like to thank Elise Radina, PhD, for her mentorship throughout this endeavor.

Disclosure Statement

The author(s) have no relevant financial disclosures or conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Lobel K, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence . Lesbian Task F. Naming the violence: speaking out about lesbian battering. 1st ed. vol Seattle. Seal Press; 1986.
  2. Richie BE, Kanuha VK, Martensen KM. Colluding With and Resisting the State: Organizing Against Gender Violence in the U.S. Feminist Criminology. 2021;16(3):247-265. doi:10.1177/1557085120987607
  3. Balsam K. Nowhere to hide: Lesbian battering, homophobia and minority stress. Women & Therapy. 2001;23(3):25-37.
  4. Barnes R. ‘She Expected Her Women to be Pretty, Subservient, Dinner on the Table at Six’: Problematising the Narrative of Egalitarianism in Lesbian Relationships through Accounts of Woman-to-Woman Partner Abuse. In: Sanger T, Taylor Y, eds. Mapping Intimacies: Relations, Exchanges, Affects. Palgrave Macmillan UK; 2013:130-149.
  5. Wendt S. Domestic Violence in Diverse Contexts. 2014:160. doi:10.4324/9781315751894
  6. Walters ML, Chen J, Breiding MJ. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA2013.
  7. Reuter TR, Newcomb ME, Whitton SW, Mustanski B. Intimate partner violence victimization in LGBT young adults: Demographic differences and associations with health behaviors. Psychology of violence. 2017;7(1):101.
  8. Wirtz AL, Poteat TC, Malik M, Glass N. Gender-based violence against transgender people in the United States: a call for research and programming. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2020;21(2):227-241.
  9. Hart B. Naming the violence: Speaking out about lesbian battering. K Lobel (Ed). Seal Press; 1986:9–18.
  10. Ristock J. Exploring dynamics of abusive lesbian relationships: Preliminary analysis of a multisite, qualitative study. American Journal of Community Psychology. 2003;31(3-4):329-341.
  11. Bornstein DR, Fawcett J, Sullivan M, Senturia KD, Shiu-Thornton S. Understanding the experiences of lesbian, bisexual and trans survivors of domestic violence: a qualitative study. Journal of Homosexuality. 51(1):159-181.
  12. Hassouneh D, Glass N. The influence of gender role stereotyping on women’s experiences of female same-sex intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women. Mar 2008;14(3):310-25. doi:10.1177/1077801207313734
  13. Register SE. Maybe it’s Just Different with Girls: A Social-Ecological Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence in Female-on-Female Relationships. International Social Science Review. 2018;94(2):1-27.
  14. Bornstein DR, Fawcett J, Sullivan M, Senturia KD, Shiu-Thornton S. Understanding the experiences of lesbian, bisexual and trans survivors of domestic violence: a qualitative study. Journal of Homosexuality. 2008;51(1):159-181.
  15. Donovan C, Barnes R. Barriers to Recognising Domestic Violence and Abuse: Power, Resistance and the Re-storying of ‘Mutual Abuse’. Queering Narratives of Domestic Violence and Abuse. Springer International Publishing; 2020:97-124.
  16. Barnes R. ‘Suffering in a silent vacuum’: Woman-to-woman partner abuse as a challenge to the lesbian feminist vision. Feminism & Psychology. 2011/05/01 2010;21(2):233-239. doi:10.1177/0959353510370183
  17. Fedele E, Juster R-P, Guay S. Stigma and Mental Health of Sexual Minority Women Former Victims of Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2022;37(23-24):NP22732-NP22758. doi:10.1177/08862605211072180
  18. Donovan C, Barnes R. Help-seeking among lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse: The impacts of cisgendered heteronormativity and invisibility. Journal of Sociology. 2020;56(4):554-570. doi:10.1177/1440783319882088
  19. Balsam KF, Szymanski DM. Relationship Quality and Domestic Violence in Women’s Same-Sex Relationships: The Role of Minority Stress. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 2005;29(3):258-269. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00220.x
  20. Steele SM, Everett BG, Hughes TL. Influence of Perceived Femininity, Masculinity, Race/Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status on Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual-Minority Women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2020;35(1-2):453-475. doi:10.1177/0886260516683176
  21. Turell SC, Herrmann MM. “Family” Support for Family Violence: Exploring Community Support Systems for Lesbian and Bisexual Women Who Have Experienced Abuse. Journal of Lesbian Studies. 2008;12(2-3):211-224. doi:10.1080/10894160802161372
  22. Hardesty JL, Oswald RF, Khaw L, Fonseca C, Chung GH. Lesbian mothering in the context of intimate partner violence. J Lesbian Stud. 2008;12(2-3):191-210. doi:10.1080/10894160802161364
  23. Lewis RJ, Milletich RJ, Derlega VJ, Padilla MA. Sexual Minority Stressors and Psychological Aggression in Lesbian Women’s Intimate Relationships: The Mediating Roles of Rumination and Relationship Satisfaction. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 2014;38(4):535-550. doi:10.1177/0361684313517866
  24. Pepper BI, Sand S. Internalized Homophobia and Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adult Women’s Same-Sex Relationships. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 2015;24(6):656-673. doi:10.1080/10926771.2015.1049764
  25. Matte M, Lafontaine M-F. Validation of a Measure of Psychological Aggression in Same-Sex Couples: Descriptive Data on Perpetration and Victimization and Their Association with Physical Violence. Journal of GLBT Family Studies. 05/01 2011;7:226-244. doi:10.1080/1550428X.2011.564944
  26. Ronzón-Tirado R, Charak R, Cano-Gonzalez I, Karsberg S, Schnarrs PW. Latent Classes of Bidirectional Face-to-Face and Cyber Intimate Partner Violence Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Emerging Adults: The Role of Minority Stressors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2022;37(21-22):NP21092-NP21118. doi:10.1177/08862605211055158
  27. Messinger AM, Sessarego SN, Edwards KM, Banyard VL. Bidirectional IPV Among Adolescent Sexual Minorities. J Interpers Violence. 2021;36(11-12):Np5643-np5662. doi:10.1177/0886260518807218
  28. Messinger AM. Bidirectional Same-Gender and Sexual Minority Intimate Partner Violence. Violence and Gender. 2018;5(4):241-249. doi:10.1089/vio.2018.0001
  29. Meyer IH. Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychol Bull. 2003;129(5):674-697. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674
  30. Scheer JR, Woulfe JM, Goodman LA. Psychometric validation of the identity abuse scale among LGBTQ individuals. J Community Psychol. 2019;47(2):371-384. doi:10.1002/jcop.22126
  31. Woulfe JM, Goodman LA. Weaponized oppression: Identity abuse and mental health in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. Psychology of Violence. 2020;10:100-109.
  32. Woulfe JM, Goodman LA. Identity Abuse as a Tactic of Violence in LGBTQ Communities: Initial Validation of the Identity Abuse Measure. J Interpers Violence. 2021;36(5-6):2656-2676. doi:10.1177/0886260518760018
  33. McDonald C. The Social Context of Woman-to-Woman Intimate Partner Abuse (WWIPA). Journal of Family Violence. 2012/10/01 2012;27(7):635-645. doi:10.1007/s10896-012-9455-z
  34. Reuter TR, Newcomb ME, Whitton SW, Mustanski B. Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in LGBT Young Adults: Demographic Differences and Associations with Health Behaviors. Psychol Violence. 2017;7(1):101-109. doi:10.1037/vio0000031
  35. Wong JWH, La VV, Lee SE, Raidoo S. The ALOHA Study: Intimate Partner Violence in Hawai’i’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community. Hawaii J Health Soc Welf. 2020;79(6):187-193.
  36. Lehavot K, Walters KL, Simoni JM. Abuse, mastery, and health among lesbian, bisexual, and two-spirit American Indian and Alaska Native women. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2009;15(3):275-84. doi:10.1037/a0013458
  37. Hardesty JL, Ogolsky BG. A Socioecological Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence Research: A Decade in Review. Journal of Marriage and Family. 2020;82(1):454-477. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12652
  38. Calabrese SK, Meyer IH, Overstreet NM, Haile R, Hansen NB. Exploring Discrimination and Mental Health Disparities Faced By Black Sexual Minority Women Using a Minority Stress Framework. Psychol Women Q. 2015;39(3):287-304. doi:10.1177/0361684314560730
  39. Muzny CA, Pérez AE, Eaton EF, Agénor M. Psychosocial Stressors and Sexual Health Among Southern African American Women Who Have Sex with Women. LGBT Health. 2018;5(4):234-241. doi:10.1089/lgbt.2017.0263
  40. Bornstein DR, Fawcett J, Sullivan M, Senturia KD, Shiu-Thornton S. Understanding the experiences of lesbian, bisexual and trans survivors of domestic violence: a qualitative study. J Homosex. 2006;51(1):159-81. doi:10.1300/J082v51n01_08
  41. Cyrus K. Multiple minorities as multiply marginalized: Applying the minority stress theory to LGBTQ people of color. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health. 2017;21(3):194-202. doi:10.1080/19359705.2017.1320739
  42. Alhusen JL, Lucea MB, Glass N. Perceptions of and Experience With System Responses to Female Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence. Partner Abuse. 2010;1(4):443-462. doi:10.1891/1946-6560.1.4.443
  43. Battista SD, Paolini D, Pivetti M, et al. Emotional abuse among Lesbian Italian women: Relationship consequences, help-seeking and disclosure behaviors. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health. 2021;25(2):175-207. doi:10.1080/19359705.2020.1843582
  44. Hardesty JL, Oswald RF, Khaw L, Fonseca C. Lesbian/bisexual mothers and intimate partner violence: help seeking in the context of social and legal vulnerability. Violence Against Women. 2011;17(1):28-46. doi:10.1177/1077801209347636
  45. Bermea AM, Vanbergen AM. The Potential for Restorative Justice Practice for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence with Queer Couples. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy. 2022;21(1):3-26. doi:10.1080/15332691.2021.1902445
  46. Messinger AM. Invisible Victims: Same-Sex IPV in the National Violence Against Women Survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2010;26(11):2228-2243. doi:10.1177/0886260510383023
  47. Ard KL, Makadon HJ. Addressing intimate partner violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2011;26(8):930-3. doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1697-6
  48. Eliason MJ, Schope R. Original Research: Does “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Apply to Health Care? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People’s Disclosure to Health Care Providers. Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. 2001;5(4):125-134. doi:10.1023/A:1014257910462
  49. Pujalte GGA, Effiong, II, Nishi LYM, Clapp ADM, Waller TA. Primary Care Perceptions and Practices on Discussion and Advice Regarding Sexual Practices. South Med J. 2020;113(7):356-359. doi:10.14423/smj.0000000000001114
  50. Eaton L, Kaufman M, Fuhrel A, et al. Examining Factors Co-Existing with Interpersonal Violence in Lesbian Relationships. Journal of Family Violence. 2008;23(8):697-705. doi:10.1007/s10896-008-9194-3
  51. Bermea AM, van Eeden-Moorefield B, Khaw L. Serving queer survivors of intimate partner violence through diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services. 2019;31(4):521-545. doi:10.1080/10538720.2019.1653805
  52. Curry SJ, Krist AH, Owens DK, et al. Screening for Intimate Partner Violence, Elder Abuse, and Abuse of Vulnerable Adults. JAMA. 2018;320(16):1678. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.14741
  53. Bloom T, Gielen A, Glass N. Developing an App for College Women in Abusive Same-Sex Relationships and Their Friends. J Homosex. 2016;63(6):855-74. doi:10.1080/00918369.2015.1112597

 

About the Authors

Mary Martin, BSW

Mary Martin is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research areas include woman to woman intimate partner abuse, LGBTQ+ mental health, and student wellness. She plans to apply into the field of psychiatry in 2023.

Alesha Kotian, BS

Alesha Kotian is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research areas include women’s health, health disparities, and student wellness. She plans to apply into the field of obstetrics and gynecology in 2023.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

BCPHR.org was designed by ComputerAlly.com. 

Facebook Instagram X-twitter Linkedin Youtube Tiktok Soundcloud
Visit Computer Ally

Visit BCPHR‘s publisher, the Boston Congress of Public Health (BCPH).

Visit BCPH

Email [email protected] for more information.

BCPHR JOURNAL

BCPHR

Click below to make a tax-deductible donation supporting the educational initiatives of the Boston Congress of Public Health, publisher of BCPHR.

Click here

© 2024 BCPHR: An Academic, Peer-Reviewed Journal

PRIVACY POLICY