BY BTL Staff
Sixteen anti-violence organizations from 13 states across the country contributed testimony from 2,166 reports of Intimate Parter Violence for the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program's 2014 report on LGBT Intimate Partner Violence released Oct. 27. The report found LGBT and HIV-affected communities of color, bisexual survivors, transgender communities and cisgender male survivors were uniquely and disproportionately impacted by IPV.
Findings from the report show that for a fourth year in a row cisgender men were most impacted by IPV homicide, bisexual survivors were more likely to experience sexual violence and transgender individuals were more likely to experience IPV in public areas.
In 2014, 15 LGBT individuals lost their lives to IPV, a 29 percent decrease from 2013. Of the 15 homicides documented last year, eight of the victims were cisgender men, seven of whom were killed by current or former male partners, accounting for 47 percent of all reported homicide victims.
The 2014 report shows a decrease of 20 percent of reported cases compared to the 2013 findings. Several NCAVP member programs who saw a decrease attribute the decline to less visibility for their organization due to staffing changes.
"While NCAVP saw a decrease in reports in 2014, this data remains some of the most comprehensive data available and includes reports of LGBT and HIV-affected IPV which may not have been reported to the police," said Beverly Tillery from the New York City Anti-Violence Project. "The need to bring visibility and resources to the experiences and needs of LGBTQ survivors of IPV remains a critical issue facing our country."
Member programs may have reported a decrease, however a higher percentage of survivors attempted to access formal systems and services of care following an incident of IPV in 2014. Of the 24 percent of individuals who sought orders of protection, 85 percent were granted compared to 58 percent in 2013. A 55 percent majority of survivors reported their experience of IPV to the police in 2014 — a substantial increase from 2013 when only 37 percent of survivors reported to police.
"LGBT and HIV-affected survivors of color often face racism along with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia when interacting with first responders or attempting to access supportive services," said Lynne Sprague from Survivors Organizing for Liberation in Colorado. "It is imperative that responses to LGBTQ and HIV-affected intimate partner violence survivors of color address not just institutional anti-LGBTQ and HIV bias — but also racism."
LGBT and HIV-affected people of color accounted for 51 percent of IPV survivors. Specifically, LGBT black survivors were 1.89 times more likely and Latina survivors were 1.59 times more likely to experience physical violence within IPV than non-POC survivors.
The report found transgender survivors to be 1.98 times more likely to experience IPV in public areas and 3.39 times more likely to experience discrimination than people who did not identify as transgender. Undocumented transgender survivors were 3.83 times more likely to experience discrimination and 1.78 times more likely to experience harassment than people who do not identify as transgender and are undocumented.
Bisexual survivors were found to be 2.02 times more likely to experience sexual violence than people who did not identify as bisexual. NCAVP's 2014 data reinforces the findings of the NISVS that revealed that 61 percent of bisexual women and 37 percent of bisexual men experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking in their lifetimes within IPV.
For the first time, NCAVP collected data on experiences of LGBT and HIV-affected survivors who are on public assistance in an effort to expand current research to analyze the economic impacts of violence and the relationship between socio-economic status and violence. The 2014 report found that LGBT survivors of color were 3.34 times more likely and transgender women of color were 8.43 times more likely to be on public assistance than people who do not identify as LGBT people of color. Additionally, survivors on public assistance in 2014 were 3.13 times more likely to experience physical violence and 5.71 times more likely to be injured than survivors who were not on public assistance.
NCAVP requests that policymakers ensure that the federal government collects comprehensive and inclusive information on sexual orientation and gender identity whenever demographic data is requested in studies, surveys and research including IPV, and the NCAVP asks that policymakers ensure that LGBT survivors are included in all prevention assessments. Policymakers and funders should fund LGBT and HIV-affected specific IPV prevention initiatives and fund economic empowerment programs targeted at LGBQ and HIV-affected communities, particularly LGBT and HIV-affected communities of color, transgender communities, immigrant communities and low-income communities. NCAVP also suggets policymakers enact compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform to reduce barriers for LGBTQ and HIV-affected immigrant survivors of IPV.
The report includes testimony from 2,166 reports of IPV from Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. NCAVP is a national coalition of 53 local member programs and affiliate organizations in 25 states, Canada and Washington D.C. who create systemic and social change for the prevention, response to and eradication of all forms of violence against and within the LGBT and HIV-affected communities.
