Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects gay men in a particular way with regard to its prevalence, forms, and consequences. There are still many aspects of the problem that require research. We know for example that the separation of the partners does not always put an end to IPV. It is not however known how it evolves in relationships between separated men, since our knowledge has been developed mainly with couples in heterosexual relationships. Based on the results of a qualitative study conducted in the Province of Québec, this article describes IPV and its consequences in a separation context. We initially conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 23 men who had experienced violence in the overall separation context of their intimate relationship with another man. We then conducted two discussion groups with 14 practitioners from related fields. These results showed that the partners’ union and separation were not binary and that the separation instead follows a three-phase process. Different acts of psychological, sexual, physical, and economic violence and their consequences were reported during these different phases. This study allows us to deepen our understanding of the IPV experienced by gay men in a separation process. It particularly sheds light on acts of violence rooted in a heterosexist social context and in the context of different types of sexual agreements. Implications for practitioners working with gay men who are subjected to or perpetrate IPV as well as for educators and state policymakers are discussed.

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