External Barriers to Help-Seeking Encountered by Canadian Gay and Lesbian Victims of Intimate Partner Abuse: An Application of The Barriers Model

Abstract

While understanding of intimate partner abuse (IPA) in gay and lesbian relationships has increased within the past decade, there remain several gaps in the help-seeking research. In particular, research examining the external barriers to help-seeking encountered by gay and lesbian victims of IPA has been largely atheoretical. To address this gap, an application of The Barriers Model was undertaken. This mixed-methods study surveyed 280 gay, lesbian, and/or queer participants living in Canada. Findings revealed that victims encountered external barriers in the environment (i.e., Layer 1 of the model), such as lack of availability of gay and lesbian specific services. Results also suggested that barriers due to family/socialization/role expectations (i.e., Layer 2 of the model), such as concealment of sexual orientation, had an impact on help-seeking.

Gay men and intimate partner violence: a gender analysis

“…Our findings also resonate with those of Jeffries and Ball (), who suggest that while many gay men's individual and micro‐social IPV factors, such family violence experiences and power dynamics, are similar to that in heterosexual IPV (for example, family violence experiences and power dynamics), macro‐social dynamics, including homophobia and a lack of IPV services ofered to gay men (St Pierre and Senn ) add to the complexities and challenges in assisting gay men who experience IPV. For instance, among the barriers to gay men accessing services to overcome the IPV identified in this study was a perception by the participants that IPV services were designed for women.…”

“…, Freedberg , Merrill and Wolfe ). The lack of LGBT‐targeted IPV services further complicates gay men's efforts in seeking help (Helfrich and Simpson , St Pierre and Senn ), as do misconceptions that same‐sex IPV is always bidirectional or mutual (Bartholomew et al . ).…”

When Intimate Partner Violence Meets Same Sex Couples: A Review of Same Sex Intimate Partner Violence

“…Many interventions were developed in the North American context (Istar, 1996; Merrill and Wolfe, 2000; Dixon and Peterman, 2003; Lee and Utarti, 2003; Ristock and Timbang, 2005; Borne et al, 2007; Fountain and Skolnik, 2007; Herrmann and Turell, 2008; Price and Rosenbaum, 2009; Hines and Douglas, 2011; Dykstra et al, 2013; Armstrong et al, 2014; Buttell and Cannon, 2015; Quillin and Strickler, 2015), while a few existed in Canada (Senn and St.Pierre, 2010; Cannon et al, 2016; Barata et al, 2017) and Australia (Leonard et al, 2008; Jeffries and Kay, 2010). Some interventions were addressed to a specific ethnic group, such as Asians (Chung and Lee, 1999; Lee and Utarti, 2003; Cheung et al, 2009), or black people (Helfrich and Simpson, 2014).…”

“…LGB victims of IPV were prone to seek help from informal resources (particularly friends) (Scherzer, 1998; Merrill and Wolfe, 2000; Turell, 2000), although there was a rather high percentage of people who turned to health care providers and family (Scherzer, 1998; Merrill and Wolfe, 2000; Turell, 2000); on the contrary, organizations specifically designed with the purpose of addressing IPV seemed to have the lowest utilization rates (Lanzerotti, 2006). In terms of the gender of the victim, it emerged that lesbian women had the tendency to seek help from all types of resources equally, while gay men were more prone to turn to the police to report victimizations (Cornell-Swanson and Turell, 2006; Senn and St.Pierre, 2010). …”

“…In accordance with this, Arnocky and Vaillancourt (2014) work suggested that men, regardless of sexual identity, were less likely to recognize that they were being abused than women. To date, trainings on LGB IPV received by operators appear to be lacking, while the operators often believe to have an appropriate competence regarding heterosexual IPV (Senn and St.Pierre, 2010; Hancock et al, 2014). …”