ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what research illuminates about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identified intimate partner violence (IPV), including its prevalence, tactics, causes, and help-seeking barriers. Pinpointing the exact prevalence of IPV victimization among sexual minorities is challenging in part because studies vary dramatically in sampling designs, as well as in how they measure IPV victimization and sexual minority status. Victim services, policies, and research have historically focused on the experiences of IPV in relationships involving two heterosexual-cisgender people (HC). Although both HC and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) IPV can involve the same umbrella forms of abuse – psychological, physical, and sexual abuse – there are additional tactics LGBTQ survivors report that are directly related to their LGBTQ identity. Unique LGBTQ psychological IPV tactics can include threats of and actually outing the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Theories unique to LGBTQ populations generally draw on the assumption that IPV risk is elevated by minority stress –.
