Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual Minority Women: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent among sexual minority women (SMW). However, compared to IPV research with heterosexual women and other LGBTQ+ population groups, SMW are understudied. We conducted a scoping review to examine the current state of knowledge about IPV among SMW, and to identify gaps and directions for future research. A search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases returned 1,807 papers published between January 2000 and December 2021. After independent reviewers screened these papers for relevance, 99 were included in the final review. Papers were included if they used quantitative methods and reported IPV data on adult SMW separately from other groups. Findings confirmed high rates of IPV among SMW and highlighted groups with particular vulnerabilities, including non-monosexual women and SMW of color. Risk factors for IPV in this population include prior trauma and victimization, psychological and emotional concerns, substance use, and minority stressors. Outcomes include poor mental and physical health. Findings related to the effects of minority stressors on IPV and comparisons across sexual minority groups were inconsistent. Future research should focus on IPV perpetration; mechanisms underlying risk for IPV, including structural-level risk factors; and understanding differences among SMW subgroups.

“I Know Myself Again, Which Makes Me Motivated for Life”: Feasibility and Acceptability of Using Experience Sampling Methods With Trauma-Exposed Sexual Minority Women

“…Compared to heterosexual women, SMW, as members of a marginalized group, may be more challenging to retain in longitudinal surveys due to stress related to revealing their stigmatized sexual or gender identity and living in regions with high structural stigma (Campbell et al, 2020; Downing & Rosenthal, 2020; Lewis, Dawson, et al, 2021). For instance, SMW are more likely than heterosexual women to report interpersonal violence, financial insecurity, unemployment, housing instability (Campbell et al, 2020; Meyer, 2003; Porsch et al, 2022; Scheer et al, 2020), and incarceration (Meyer et al, 2017). Other factors that may make SMW more difficult to retain in ESM research include mental health challenges, substance misuse, and low social support (Campbell et al, 2020).…”

“…Sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., lesbian, bisexual, queer, same-genderloving) are at heightened risk of experiencing trauma, including childhood physical abuse and intimate partner violence, compared to heterosexual women (Hughes et al, 2014;McCabe et al, 2022;Porsch et al, 2022;Roberts et al, 2010;Scheer et al, 2020Scheer et al, , 2021. For instance, a recent study using nationally representative data found that 30.6% of bisexual and 17.8% of lesbian women reported at least two types of childhood sexual abuse compared to 9.8% of heterosexual women (McCabe et al, 2022).…”

Histories of violence among clients seeking substance use disorder treatment: a systematic mapping review

“…This line of research can advance understanding of structural violence as it can help identify institutional and systemic forms of violence experienced in healthcare, legal systems, and other entities and the groups and communities most impacted or targeted (see racial macroaggressions 105 , 107 ). Additionally, only three articles included transgender or same sex couples indicating gender and sexually diverse populations as unrepresented within existing research; recent research highlights the intersectional impact of race and sexual identities and how treatment must incorporate and identify structural mechanisms, such as state and organizational level policies pertaining to antidiscrimination, in addition to individual level factors ( 108 , 109 ).…”

Intimate partner violence is related to future alcohol use among a nationwide sample of LGBTQIA+ people: Results from The PRIDE Study

“…However, despite LGBTQIA+ people having both high rates of alcohol use and IPV, little research has investigated the temporal relationship between IPV and alcohol use in this population. IPV is often found to be associated with alcohol use in specific LGBTQIA+ subgroups (e.g., cisgender men who have sex with men, cisgender women who have sex with women women) (Basting et al, 2023;Davis et al, 2016;Kimmes et al, 2019;King et al, 2022), but current knowledge of the role that IPV plays in alcohol use among LGBTQIA+ people is limited by cross-sectional designs and a preponderance of evidence focusing on cisgender men who have sex with men (Kim & Schmuhl, 2021;Porsch et al, 2022). This precludes researchers from drawing causal inferences and, perhaps more importantly, developing effective evidenceinformed interventions for alcohol use for LGBTQIA+ communities that are inclusive of their relationship experiences.…”