(PS1-B44) Understanding and Overcoming the Barriers for Help-seeking of LGBTQAI+ Domestic Violence Survivors

Domestic violence is heavily studied in heterosexual communities but there is a lack of literature in respect to domestic violence in LGBTQ+ communities. Between 15-47% of LGBTQ+ individuals are victims of domestic violence (Banks & Fedewa, 2012; Nowinski & Bowen, 2011). There are higher rates of near-lethal violence in DV than heterosexual couples (Loveland & Raghavan, 2014). LGBTQ+ victims are also less likely to report to police (Miles-Johnson, 2013). They usually seek help from informal sources (McClennen et al., 2002) and may not feel comfortable seeking help from traditional shelters. Many LGBTQ+ individuals fear of homophobia and transphobia (Bornstein et al., 2006; Miles-Johnson, 2013; Turell, 2000b). Given all these challenges, it is important to understand the real challenges that members of the LGBTQ+ community experience when they are seeking help for domestic violence.   Members of the LGBTQ+ community who were 18 or older were recruited to participate via invitations on social media platforms (data collection is ongoing, preliminary results presented on 68 participants). Participants completed an online survey that asks about demographic information, followed by questions on domestic violence myths, barriers to service utilization for LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence, concerns about seeking services, and suggestions for improvement of service delivery by members of the local domestic violence coalition.

            Participants reported that 71.1% believed that their LBGTQ+ family member or friend would not seek help because they are afraid that they will be ostracized from the LGBTQ+ community; 84.4% would not likely seek help because they are afraid that they will be harassed by law enforcement; and 55.5% were afraid that social service agencies would not help LGBTQ+ people seeking services. Two-thirds were afraid they would experience homo- or transphobia from other survivors. Internal barriers to help seeking included low self-esteem, depression, and fear of being outed. External barriers included transportation, housing, financial insecurities, and a lack of appropriate services. Many suggestions for improved outreach to the LGBTQ+ community were shared, including visible signs of inclusion and programming specifically for the LGBTQ+ community.

            These results suggest that there are significant barriers to seeking services in the form of fear of negative reactions from the people that are supposed to help them. The data from this study can help inform how social service providers and law enforcement must interact with LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence, as well as the areas of improvement that need to occur for LGBTQ+ victims to feel safe seeking assistance. Some of these improvements may include better training of domestic violence response teams (Oswald et al., 2010), training about the intersection of domestic violence and systemic violence and oppression, and clearer laws and procedures about the assessment of domestic violence in all relationships (Pattavina et al., 2007).