HW 14
gumbubble89
NOTESFROMNationalCenter.docx
NOTES FROM
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER
http://www.ncdsv.org/publications_lgbti.html
· Never make assumptions about sexual orientation or gender identity
· Be aware of your own attitudes, and take care that every step of the process is client centered, based on the needs of the client.
· Use gender neutral, inclusive language.
· Partner rather than boyfriend, husband
· They, rather than he or she
· Person rather than man, woman
· Relationship status rather than marital status
· Respect a client’s choice to define their identities.
· Note the language they use to refer to their identities and relationships.
· Use that language yourself, even when you are not in the client’s presence.
· Respect anxieties about disclosure.
Many LGBTQ victims/survivors may not believe that “domestic violence” applies to their situation or that it can possibly be as severe as violence experienced by heterosexual women. An additional amount of education about the dynamics of abuse and its prevalence in the LGBTQ community may be needed.
Be sure to inquire about children and provide information about the effects of DV on them in a non-judgmental manner. Understand that LGBTQ clients may hesitate to
talk about their children for fear of custody battles.
Include a lethality assessment as part of every intake. The more closeted the batterer has been in their life, the higher the risk for lethality.
Acknowledge and offer support when a client discloses experiences of discrimination and harassment from family, law enforcement, providers, etc. as part of their help-seeking. “…Bare witness to a client’s rage, fear, and shame, confirming that these are, indeed, injustices… without pathologizing their anger or
responding defensively…” or justifying others’ behavior
“…Resist clients' projections of their own internalized homophobia, refusing to validate selfblame
While it is often quite obvious who is abusing and who is being abused in relationships, including in same-sex relationships, there can be cases where service providers are unsure.
Most abuse victims do not draw distinctions between fighting back and acting in self-defense. Gay and male socialization processes may cause abused gay men who act self-defensively to deny their victimization.
Consider your own preconceived notions about “the kind of people who are abusive?” or “who is abusive” and “who is abused” in LGBTQ relationships?
Myth and Reality
Myth: The larger, more masculine-looking or masculine-identified partner is the batterer in same-sex abusive relationships.
Reality: Size, strength, gender identity and presentation do not determine one’s behavioral patterns with regard to power, control and
abuse.
Myth: Abuse in LGBTQ relationships are not as prevalent, harmful or dangerous as battering in relationships among non-LGBT+ identifying individuals.
Reality: Current research confirms that abuse is just as prevalent (occurring in 25-33% of relationships) and just as harmful and dangerous among LGBTQ people
Myth: Women are less capable of being violent than men. Gay men are not “real men” and therefore also not as capable of being violent as heterosexual
men.
Reality: Incidences include emotional and psychological abuse as well as severe physical violence… Feet hammered while asleep; Hit in the head by a brick; Eardrum ruptured by blows to the head with a shovel; Gunshot wound to shoulder - not allowed to seek medical assistance for hours; Ribs broken and then gun held to head for 2 hours.
Screening Basics
The most important thing service providers can do is listen and be aware of their own biases and judgments.
Learn as much about the situation as possible by encouraging the client to tell their story without any leading or direction.
Open-ended questions can elicit information about the situation, how the client views the situation and what the client needs.
Be careful not to subject clients to excessive questioning.
Questioning should always be respectful and address immediate safety needs.
Slow Down the Story
In situations where you are concerned that you may be conducting an intake with an abusive partner, you can ask the client to “slow down” the description of the events involved in an abusive incident (what happened leading up to the event, what were they feeling, doing, thinking, who said what), asking for detail and keeping the discussion chronological.
Do not apply this method to all clients: to ask a victim questions about what they were doing prior to an abusive incident could suggest that they are somehow responsible for the abuse.
Responsibility and blame: Victims/survivors typically have an inflated sense of responsibility for actions and incidents in a relationship and blame themselves, while batterers typically minimize their actions, take little responsibility
and blame others.
