A Scoping Review of Intimate Partner Violence as It Relates to the Experiences of Gay and Bisexual Men

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global health issue that encroaches beyond parameters of age, gender, sexual orientation and is the subject of extensive scholarly inquiry. Research on IPV in heterosexual couples, in particular on heterosexual women, has been prolific. However, there is a dearth of literature to document the distinct experiences of gay and bisexual men, despite the evidence of prevalence of IPV as reported equal or higher to heterosexual women. Studies have found that one in four gay men and four in 10 bisexual men have experienced IPV in their lifetime. This scoping review examines studies between 1931 and 2019 that had a predominant focus on violence among gay and bisexual men. Four electronic databases were searched in 2019. Arksey and O’Malley’s framework was utilized to extract 28 studies using a range of research designs that represented 13,224 sexual minority male participants. Across studies, gay and bisexual men were observed to experience IPV similarly to heterosexual couples involving psychological, physical, and sexual violence. However, as a marginalized and sexual minority group, they experience distinctive features of violence including sexual orientation outing, unprotected sexual intercourse, homophobia, internalized homophobia, and difficulties accessing minority men–focused services. Minority stress theory is posited as a useful lens in understanding the above features. In keeping with previous scholarship, a paucity of knowledge on gay and bisexual men’s experience of IPV was observed, and additional research is recommended.

Internalized Homonegativity, Emotion Dysregulation, and Isolating Behaviors Perpetration among Gay and Lesbian Couples

“…Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health concern affecting sexual minorities to the same extent as heterosexual people, if not even more [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Only in the past few decades researchers turned their attention to same-sex intimate partner violence (SSIPV; [ 4 ]).…”

“…Nevertheless, IPV among same-sex couples remains poorly discussed on a public level and bias in media representations have been documented, which contribute to the poor understanding of the phenomena [ 5 , 6 ]. The lack of research on SSIPV may also have perpetuated the marginalization of sexual minorities resulting in a shortage of service provision, public agendas, and funding, especially when compared to the response dedicated to heterosexual IPV [ 1 ]. Moreover, even if theories developed by research with heterosexual couples can often be applicable to LGB couples, they fail to represent sexual minorities’ unique experience [ 7 ].…”

La percepción de amenaza física en la pareja y el bienestar en la juventud

“…Algunas de las conclusiones principales de nuestros resultados son que el 22.4% de las personas heterosexuales ha sentido amenaza en relaciones anteriores por lo menos una vez, mientras que el 46.8% de las personas de otras orientaciones sexuales diferente a la heterosexual informa haber sufrido dicha amenaza en el pasado. Estos datos confirman la idea de que la violencia en las relaciones de pareja no ocurre únicamente en las relaciones heterosexuales normativas de hombre y mujer heterosexuales (Callan et al, 2021), sino en todo tipo de parejas. Respecto al género, el 35.7% de las mujeres afirma haber sentido amenazada su seguridad física en relaciones anteriores por lo menos una vez, siendo este porcentaje del 12.5% para los hombres.…”

“…Dada su elevada prevalencia, tanto en España como a nivel mundial, no es de extrañar que la población más investigada y atendida en cuanto a violencia en la pareja han sido las mujeres heterosexuales, siendo menos estudiadas otras personas también afectadas por la violencia basada en el género que ocurre en las relaciones de pareja: personas transgénero o no binarias, las personas con orientaciones sexuales diferentes a la heterosexual, entre otras (Callan et al, 2021;DeKeseredy et al, 2019). Ésta es una realidad que es necesario atender, dado que es una grave amenaza tanto para la salud como para el bienestar subjetivo (Botello-Peñaloza & Guerrero-Rincón, 2018;Callan et al, 2021).…”

College Students’ Experiences of Dating App Facilitated Sexual Violence and Associations with Mental Health Symptoms and Well-Being

“…Follow up studies should actively recruit these groups and seek to understand experiences that are unique to each sexual identity. For example, gay and bisexual men use dating apps more than any sexual identity group and experience violence in qualitatively distinct ways (Badal et al, 2018;Callan et al, 2021) and bisexual women disproportionately experience sexual violence compared to heterosexual and lesbian women (Canan et al, 2021). In addition, more research is needed to assess perpetration in addition to victimization of DAFSV, including how these patterns vary based on gender and sexual identity.…”