🎵“I try to discover, a little something to make me sweeter, Oh baby refrain, from breaking my heart, I’m so in love with you, I’ll be forever blue, that you give me no reason, why you’re making me work so hard, that you give me no soul, I hear you calling, oh baby please, give a little respect to me🎵~Erasure (A Little Respect- from the album ‘Innocents’)💕
I wanted to make sure I included the LGBTQ community in my website not only because they often get overlooked in the “stop domestic violence” movement but because some of the most amazing people I know, are members of this community, so it is very close to my heart. After some research, I realized that this community suffers greatly from abuse and trauma. In fact, the rates of abuse and violence are higher than in the heterosexual community! I’d like to share some sobering statistics with you…
According to the “ncadv.org’ website in the article, “Domestic Violence and the LGBTQ Community”, “LGBTQ members fall victim to domestic violence at equal or even higher rates compared to their heterosexual counterparts.”😲😪
**** HERE ARE SOME STATISTICS FROM THE WEBSITE;
* 43.8% of lesbian women and 61.1% of bisexual women experienced rape, physical violence, and /or stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime, as opposed to only 35% of heterosexual women.
* 26% of gay men and 37.3% of bisexual men have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, in comparison to 29% of heterosexual men.
* In a study of male same sex relationships only 26% of men called the police for assistance after experiencing near-lethal violence.
* In 2012, fewer than 5% of LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence sought orders of protection.
* Transgender victims are more likely to experience intimate partner violence in public compared to those who do not identify as transgender.
* Bisexual victims are more likely to experience sexual violence, compared to people who do not identify as bisexual.
* LBGTQ Black/African victims are more likely to experience physical intimate partner violence, compared to those who do not identify as Black/African American.
* LGBTQ white victims are more likely to experience sexual violence compared to those who do not identify as white.
* LGBTQ victims on public assistance are more likely to experience intimate partner violence compared to those who are not on public assistance.
The LGBTQ community has unique problems when it comes to domestic and intimate partner violence. One of the biggest ones is using “outing” the person as a tool to control and abuse. Many people in this community have not “come out of the closet” yet, so to speak, so the threat of someone they love, divulging their “secret” to the world is beyond mortifying and many will do anything to not let that happen, including reporting the abuse. Young people in this community are also generally not ready to fully discuss their sexuality much less being abused because of it. There is also a problem with reporting intimate partner abuse or violence within this group, some reasons include, not trusting the police or other authorities as taking them seriously, the fear of harassment or having to deal with “homophobic” mindsets of police and court officials. There is a certain level of shame or guilt that many of these people deal with and that can also prevent them from seeking help or even talking about it with anyone. Many are victims of religious persecution or harassment because of the false and rigid mental construct that hamstrings and hinders those with black and white religious beliefs, and those “white knucklers’”. Transgender individuals also have unique problems when it comes to domestic and intimate partner violence, some of which include, being called names which assault their “identity.” What some people don’t understand, they automatically fear or try to find reason to discredit or condemn it, even when it involves committing “religious hypocrisy”, many times without ever trying to otherwise educate themselves about it (Remember….PSYCHOLOGY SAYS~ when people engage in acts of hatred or condemnation, it says a whole lot more about them (and not in a good light ) ,than it does about you or their “perceived” problem with you!!! People also like to ‘project’ their problems onto other people, by getting angry and abusive with others (you). Again, they are the ones with the problem, not you!!! It’s a ‘their” problem, not a ‘you’ problem! You may want to mention this to the next person who hassles you. You will have them at a disadvantage because they’ll have to think about all that, which usually renders them silent with a puzzled look on their face, at least for a little while as they realize that you just took control of the conversation with factual information that makes them look very unbecoming”!!! SCORE; YOU -1, THEM-0! YESSS!!!
This community in general feels as though they have definite barriers, biases and obstacles when it comes to equality. And DAMMIT, they do! They are still trying to find their footing when it comes to being treated as equals ,on many important fronts, so I think it’s very important to include them on my website. Even more so once I realized their rates of abuse and violence are higher than in the heterosexual community, which itself is much too high, and remember, these statistics only represent what has been reported. I hope this article helps to raise awareness of this epidemic. Best wishes!💜💙💚💛🧡💗
