Domestic violence and sexuality

Abstract

How we did the research: the COHSAR research approach 35 three Setting the context: sexuality matters 57 four Identifying and experiencing domestic violence and abuse 89 five What's love got to do with it? six Barriers to help-seeking: the gap of trust seven Key findings and implications for practice References Index iv Domestic violence and sexuality List of figures and tables v

Young People’s Experiences of Violence and Abuse in Same-sex Relationships: Understandings and Challenges

“…Moreover, the cycle of violence progresses from psychological (making someone think she does not deserve to be heard), to physical (forcing one's hands into another's mouth), to showing remorse and tenderness ('it was all very affectionate again'). This cycle has been described in the literature for more than four decades (see, for example Donovan and Hester, 2015;Kelly, 2004: Walker, 1979). In addition, based on the participants' narratives, access to power can be unequal due to various reasons other than the gender of the abused.…”

“…In addition, heteronormative beliefs and notions of manhood and womanhood can place sexual minority youths in a vulnerable position (Chung, 2007). Based on the concept of 'minority stress', which is wellstudied in the literature (Meyer, 2003), heteronormativity is one of the main external stressors that may greatly affect the lives of sexual minorities (for a critique, see Donovan and Hester, 2015 Furthermore, when the dominant discourse (understood here as a network of norms expressed through talk), that structure the social organization of society and as a consequence is intimately connected to power, is heteronormative, all other experiences are excluded.…”

“…A phenomenon discussed in the literature on sexual minorities and IPV referred to as 'double disclosure' is relevant to this experience. That is, disclosing violence indirectly requires disclosure of the same-sex partner, which can constitute a barrier to help-seeking (Donovan and Hester, 2015;Pentaraki, 2017). In Camilla's case, her attraction to females and relationship with a girl was already known; hence, she had 'come out'.…”

“…It could be argued that youths, including sexual minority youths, growing up in a heteronormative society perceive violence as gendered; that is, men are the main perpetrators of violence against women. As a result, victimized sexual minority youths may not define their experience as violence and abuse (Donovan & Hester, 2015;Heimer et al, 2018;Holmberg & Stjernqvist, 2005). As Camilla explained:…”

“…Although the number of studies has increased considerably (Barrett, 2015), as noted by Donovan and Hester (2015) and Messinger (2014), there is still a considerable lack of studies on violence and abuse in same-sex relationships, and many questions remain to be answered. I argue that this finding is particularly true for youth victims such as Magnus.…”