Interpersonal Violence and Abuse and the LGBTQ Community Essay

Realizing that one of the discoveries about IPV or DV is that it actually cuts through cultures, class, race, creed and colour. Although allegations after allegations that there is no sufficient data about same-sex IPV to fully support whatever theoretical viewpoints there may be on the factors that lead to such occurrences, there have been readily available information to provide the reader with knowledge to understand the issue. If individuals managed to hide their gender preference or homosexuality there is a greater tendency that IPV later on will also be manageably hidden creating potentially risky behaviors as a consequence. I am dismayed that within the MSM (Men having Sex with Men) and Lesbian couples the incidence of them being batterers and them becoming repeated abusers because oftentimes they use isolation as a weapon against their victims. This is their strategy to ensure that they can control their victims. Support services for victims are not necessarily effective due to the nature of the liaison, i. e. , the stigma attached to the LGBT kind of relationship is likely to deter a victim to request or ask for help . Since statistics demonstrate that the prevalence of GLBT IPV/DV is as common as its heterosexual counterpart, the degree and kind of abuse that are inflicted mirror what are commonly occurring in any domestic violence. Just as there may also be a possible resulting homicide, cases of femicide are the most common in either gender categories. For many of the sufferers reporting from fate as survivors of IPV, GLBT victims confess of the issue over power and control where the perpetrator customarily exhibits jealousy and control over the victim. It overwhelms me also to think that size does not guarantee that there is no victimization. In the articles, female Batterers for instance play convincing roles in duping authorities or police officers into thinking that they were the victims by reason of their small size (Fountain and Skolnik, 2007). Age-range prevalence is an aspect that researchers find difficulty in making fairly accurate or close to accurate approximation. Teens in GLBT set-ups provide the lowest data primarily because teens fear the ramifications for reporting. Let me emphasize again here because I am really moved into thinking about a very close friend of mine who into this kind of relationship and suffered the same fate. One of the concepts pointed out in literature values the role- identification that each partner assumes. It refers to the accepted notion the unknowing public assumes that the batterer usually is the â€Å"masculine† (whether in male-male or in female-female/transgender relationships); something to do with â€Å"physical size, strength, appearance and mannerisms,† as well as economic standing as common bases (Miller et al. , 2000). However this may be true in some of the cases, the profile of batterers are diverse. One distinct difference between same-sex and heterosexual IPV is the significant disparity between sex differentiations on physical violence as presented by Archer (2002). Moreover, the elements of alcohol and drug abuse are not discounted; prior experience as children to domestic violence is also another factor and the force that is known as â€Å"patriarchal power† that is imposed on the relationship is widely known. Literature conclusively added the factor on perceived power or powerless ness as significant in the rise of partner violence in both heterosexual and same sex relations. Researchers point to a curvilinear relationship which refers to the rate of violence among those partners whose status is high or lower (Miller et al. 2000). Attachment styles, whether the issue is on the gender preference or the occurrence of violence in the home or in partnership are examined, is in most cases a primary consideration. Understanding how the batterers (including their victims) have gone through their growing up years give clue to the present treatment they give to their partners. Attachment styles have been thoroughly studied and are proven to be vital influence to the developing individual and the adult in transition. It is therefore recommended that further studies be made on the correlation of attachment styles and potential violent behavior a person may manifest in a relationship especially among the GLBT population where data is still inadequate. It is worthwhile to note also that the WHO’s global strides to make domestic violence a worldwide agendum along with other forms of violence (source:www. who. int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005html) is a big and very positive step to reduce the worldwide incidence.