The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows these harrowing trends
BY NANCY KELLEY, IMAGE BY GETTY
This week’s new data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows us that LGBTQIA people remain significantly more likely to experience domestic abuse compared with their cis/het peers.
Just 4.5% of cis/het people have experienced domestic abuse, compared to 6% of lesbian and gay people and more than 9% of bi+ people. Being trans is also associated with a significantly higher risk of domestic abuse: 4.7% of cis people have experienced domestic abuse, compared with just under ten percent (9.8%) of trans people.
Beneath these headline statistics lie patterns that we should all be more aware of. Lesbians are actually less likely to experience domestic abuse compared to straight women (3.4% of lesbians compared to 6.3%). Gay men are more likely to experience domestic abuse compared to straight men (7.6% of gay men compared to 2.8% of straight men). On one level, this shouldn’t surprise us – most perpetrators of intimate partner violence and domestic violence are men.
But it is the data about bi+ women that really stands out. More than 1 in 10 (11.2%) of bi+ women have experienced domestic abuse, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This includes a far higher rate of sexual assault by partners – 2.7% of bi+ women have been attacked in this way (all other groups have a prevalence rate below one percent, or too small to measure).
Why do bi+ women experience such elevated levels of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence? Research suggests a few key drivers of this devastating reality. First, while public attitudes to lesbian and gay people have markedly improved over the last 50 years, attitudes to bi+ people are much less positive.
Second, bi+ phobic attitudes elevate risk: the idea that bi+ identities are not valid leaves bi+ women at risk of being targeted, as does the stereotype that bi+ people are always sexually available, regardless of consent.
Like bi+ women, trans people are also at significantly higher risk of experiencing domestic abuse – in fact, the rate of domestic abuse targeting trans people is twice that of cis people (the Crime Survey for England and Wales tells us that 9.8% of trans people have experienced DA compared to 4.7% of cis people).
In contrast to bi+ women, this elevated rate of victimisation is primarily driven by extremely high rates of domestic abuse by family members: 8.4% of trans people have experienced domestic abuse at the hands of a family member. This reflects wider research that demonstrates very high levels of transphobic abuse and violence within families. As public attitudes towards trans people become less tolerant, and the media scapegoating of trans people continues, there is a risk that this abuse and violence will escalate, with perpetrators feeling that their attitudes and behaviours are in line with the mainstream.
For both bi+ and trans communities the challenge to wider society is clear: first, whenever we talk about domestic abuse, we should talk about the elevated risk of harm these communities face. Researchers and advocates working in this field should work to understand and raise awareness of the bi+ and transphobic drivers of domestic abuse. And commissioners should invest in providing effective support to bi+ and trans+ survivors.
Right now, we’re in the UN 16 days of activism on violence against women and girls. If you are talking about that and you aren’t talking about LGBTQIA women and non binary people, you should ask yourself why.
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