Programs & Services > David Kelley Services > Resources we recommend: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography
Partner Abuse in LGBTQ Relationships

Updated: August 2007

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Theory -  Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Butler, L. (1999). African American Lesbian women experiencing partner abuse”, In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, McClennen, J. C. & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

This is one of the few articles on same sex partner abuse that takes an intersectional approach to the issue. The author offers a good discussion of the socio-political context of relationship violence in black communities and discusses the role that homophobia plays in the fight against racism. She also discusses the stress that is associated with confronting and negotiating various axis of oppression – specifically those of race, class, sexuality and gender. She emphasizes the importance of collective action and protest as a means of fighting oppression and healing from its effects at both a personal and a community level and makes a number of recommendations for service provision and clinical practice, including challenging service providers to confront their own racism and homophobia. This is a clearly written and informative article that offers a lot of practical information drawn from experience.

Cook-Daniels, L. (1999). “Lesbian and gay male elder abuse”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

Unique in that it focuses on the abuse of LGBTQ elders by partners, care givers or children. The author also draws parallels with elder abuse in general, particularly the commonalities regarding circumstances, vulnerabilities and responses. Offers an over view of the types of domestic violence that effect LGBTQ elders, common barriers regarding acknowledging the problem and responding to it, and lists possible intervention strategies. This is a good primer on a much neglected issue.

Farley, Ned 91996). “A survey of factors contributing to gay and lesbian domestic violence”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

The article reveals the results of a 6 years clinical study, involving 288 respondents that sought to establish the correlation between incidents of sexual abuse in childhood and abusive behaviours in adult relationships. The author expresses surprise that 94% of lesbians surveyed reported experiencing sexual abuse in childhood. The research revealed a strong correlation between childhood abuse and the tendency to abuse partners as adults.

Garcia, M. L. (1999). “A new kind of battered woman: challenges for the movement”. In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Provides a succinct assessment of the challenge that intimate partner violence among immigrant lesbians populations pose for the domestic violence movement. Its strength lies less with the clarity of the prose. Noteworthy for its insistence on tracing the various lines of oppression that immigrant lesbians experience – as well as their effects.

Gillis, J. R. & S. Diamond. ( 2006). “ Same-sex Partner Abuse: Challenges to the Existing Paradigms of Intimate Violence Theory”. In Cruel But Not Unusual: Violence in Canadian Families. Alaggia, R. & C. Vine (Eds.). Wilfrid Laurier University Press: Waterloo, ON.

An overview article, providing a fairly comprehensive picture of the field of same-sex partner abuse in terms of theory, services and advocacy. Important for its Canadian cultural context. Serves as a foundational or introductory article. An important feature is the authors foregrounding of homophobia as a central organizing feature of same sex partner abuse with regards to its behavioural, attitudinal and institutional dimensions.

Hamberger, L.K. (1996). “Invention in gay male intimate violence requires coordinated efforts on multiple levels”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

The author asserts that insights gained about abuse from investigations of heterosexual relationships cannot be generalized to gay male relationships. Although gender does have a role to play in same sex partner abuse, the nature of this role is neither fully understood nor is it singular. The authors focus is the presentation of an integrated multi-leveled (social, community and individual) intervention strategy that accounts for both the socio-political and psychological elements of abuse. The author stresses the need for more research and education regarding same sex partner abuse, as well as for greater cooperation between LGBTQ community members and service providers and mainstream domestic violence services.

Hanson, B. & Maroney, T. (1999). “HIV and Same Sex Domestic Violence”, In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

A straightforward and informative approach to the issue of HIV as a tool of abuse in same sex relationships. The authors frame the issue as one of disability and domestic violence and discuss the specific ways that HIV can feature in an abusive relationship. Also explores the barriers to service that HIV presents and offers policy and service recommendations in the area of policing, service provision, employment protection and immigration advocacy. Clearly and concisely written and very practical in its focus.

Holmes, C. & J. L. Ristock.  “Exploring Discursive Constructions of Lesbian Abuse: Looking Inside and Out” in Survivor Rhetoric: Negotiations and Narrativity in Abused Women’s Language. C. Shearer-Cremean & C. L. Winkelman (Eds). University of Toronto Press: Toronto.

Thought-provoking article in which the author’s analyze the discourse contained in three examples of feminist education literature on same sex partner abuse and three backlash texts, which exhort women’s violent tendencies and use statistics regarding abuse in lesbian relationships to support their arguments. The writing and the ideas are decidedly academic, as the authors utilize a Foucauldian framework to inform their analysis. The author’s critical gazebring awareness to the assumptions that underlie even those discourses that emerge from the margins and display a radical political pedigree. As demonstrated in this article, these discourses can be instrumental in reproducing dominant assumption about identities and, in so doing, also reproducing the exclusions that are inherent to them. 

Kanuha, V. K. (2005). “Compounding the Triple Jeopardy: Battering in lesbian of Color Relationships” in Domestic Violence at the Margins: Readings on Race, Class, Gender and Culture. Sokoloff, N. (ed.). Rutgers University Press: NJ.

Important due to its focus on the intersection of racism and homophobia in the lives of queer women of colour who have experienced intimate partner violence. The author discusses how the intersection of these two axes of oppressions affects these women’s experiences of themselves as victims of abuse and when accessing services. Interesting and multilayered, particularly as it traces the multiplicity of, particularly attitudinal, barriers that confront these women. Although the arguments are somewhat convoluted and confusing, the language is accessible.

Letellier, P. (1996). “Twin epidemics: Domestic violence and HIV infection among gay and bisexual men”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

Letellier asserts that although HIV infection does not cause violence in gay male relationships, it does have a central role to play. In particular, the author discusses the way that HIV can be used as a weapon by batterers and can make it difficult for both HIV negative and HIV positive partners to leave an abusive relationship.

McClennan, J. (1999). “Prevailing Theories Regarding Same-gender Partner Abuse: Proposing the Feminist Social Psychological Model”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

The author begins by acknowledging the inadequacy of the traditional gender-based framework to account for violence in same sex relationships and then proceeds to review and evaluate the various theoretical approaches that have been presented as alternatives. McClennan argues that it is important to distinguish between gay and lesbian relationship as the dynamics between lesbian and gay couples are not equitable. In essence, she is arguing that both gender and sexuality interact to contribute to violence in these relationships. Specifically, she delineates three areas that need to be account for by any theory, these being psychological, social learning and cultural differences. She reviews three theoretical approaches to relationship violence; a feminist model that focuses on patriarchy and gender, a psychological model that attributes violence to a personality disorder on the part of the perpetrator and Merrill’s psychological/social model, which seeks to understand violence in gay male relationships as a combination of  three factors, learning (issues arising from the perpetrator’s family or origin), opportunity (structural features that support violence) and choice (individual psychological factors). With regards to abuse in lesbian relationships, McClennan rejects the strict individualism of the psychological model in favour of a model that combines aspects of the psycho-social and feminist models. McClennan characterizes abuse in lesbian relationships as being chronic, situational and emotional. She also argues that gender socialization is the primary factor that makes lesbians and their relationships vulnerable to abuse. Although, McClennan does not consider factors such as race and class in her analysis, her work is important as it discusses and attempts to theorize violence in lesbian relationship in relation to traditional models as well as those that have been derived from the experience of gay male couples.

Merrill, G.S. (1996). “Ruling the exceptions: Same-sex battering and domestic violence theory”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

Merrill provides an overview of feminist socio-political and psychological theories of domestic violence and discusses the limitations of each. In response, he proposes a hybrid model that accounts for both socio-political and psychological dimensions of domestic abuse. Merrill suggests that degrees of severity – meaning the nature and severity of abuse and the degree of impulse control exhibited by the perpetrator – need to be central consideration for practitioners in this area. He asserts that the limitation of all these models is their inability to account for abuse that lacks intentionality.

Ristock, J. (2005). Relationship violence in Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/
Queer [LGBTQ] Communities: Moving Beyond Gender Based Work. Retrieved September 2006 from http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/lgbtqviolence/
lgbtqviolence.pdf.

This is a very important article written by a lesbian, feminist academic. It important for its content, particular its clear and accessible rendering of the issue of violence in LGBTQ relationships, its integration of various forms of oppression (race, class, ability, gender, etc.), and not least for the fact that it is widely available from the Violence Against Women Online Resources website. In this relatively brief article – 19 pages, including a list of references - Ristock provides us with an overview of the nature and incident rates of violence in LGBTQ relationships. She explicit introduces an intersectional framework that is able to account for the various ways that power operates in LGBTQ relationships. She pays particular attention to relational contexts wherein individuals are most at risk for experiencing violence. She offers a discussion on barriers to service, outlines a set of guidelines for responding to LGBTQ relationship violence and concludes by reviewing some examples of innovative approaches to service provision and advocacy. This is a very important resource. A must read for anyone who has a connection or interest in this issue.

Russo, A. (1999). “Lesbians organizing lesbians against battering”, In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

The author offers an assessment of the mainstream model of abuse in heterosexual relationships and its relevance for lesbian relationships. After a valuable and succinct discussion of the limitations of trying to account for violence in same sex relationships through a lens that was developed in a different context, Russo argues that there is a need for a lesbian specific model for confronting and understanding abuse in lesbian relationships that is able to take into account the specific needs and contexts of lesbian relationships. The article is particularly valuable for its straight forward and comprehensive discussion of the issues.

Simpson, E.K., & C.A. Helfrich. (2005). “Lesbian survivors of intimate partner violence: Provider perspectives on barriers to accessing services”. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services. 18(2) 39-59.

Presents the results of a qualitative research project that involved conducting face to face interviews with representatives from six community agencies offering service to survivors of domestic violence. The article begins with a call to research, citing once again the paucity of research that has been undertaken on this issue. The researchers have organize the barriers that they identified into 3 categories – systemic ( social and cultural attitudes, theories and assumptions regarding IPV); institutional (ambiguous agency policies, lack of staff training; lack of commitment; issues of language and representation) and  individual (internalized homophobia; heterosexist attitudes of staff, police and court officers and clients). The authors state very clearly that homophobia is the most important factor influencing access to service on a variety of different levels.

Smith, P. & R. Mancoske. (1999). “Contributing Issues to Violence Among Gay Male Couples”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

The authors offer a comprehensive framework for understanding violence in gay male relationships that includes an interaction of influences that are located at the macro (social), mezzo (service) and micro (interpersonal) levels. The authors argue that because relationship violence is maintained on all three levels, an effective intervention program must address all three levels of influence. They charge that focusing on the individual and individual relationship alone is pathologizing, and therefore ineffective. The article is clearly written, comprehensive in that the authors adopt a systems approach to the issue, and accessible as they use a case example to illustrate their arguments. Recognizing the importance of addressing existing services, they make clear recommendations about making services more accessible to LGBTQ individuals. This is an interesting and thought provoking article.

Smith, R. & O. Dale “The evolution of social policy in Gay/lesbian/Bisexual domestic violence”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

This is a more scholarly article than the others that are included in this collection. In it the authors discuss the process of social policy development with regards to marginalized communities, therefore recognizing the social context of power and privilege within which these communities exist. The authors follow up a general discussion of policy development, with a discussion of the specific challenges facing policy development in the area of same sex partner abuse, which they, rather unfortunately, refer to as “homoviolence”. In the final pages of the article, the authors review various policy changes that they feel need to happen in order to more effectively address the issue of same sex partner abuse within a range of service sectors.

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Building and Evaluating Services -  Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Cayouette, S. (1999). “Running batterers groups for lesbians”. In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Comprises a discussion of learnings from organizing and running perpetrator groups for lesbians. Includes useful information regarding identifying primary aggressor, safety issues, and a comparison of lesbian and straight male perpetrators and group responses.

Merrill, G. S. (1999). “1 in 3 of 1 in 10: Sexual and dating violence prevention groups for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgendered youth”. In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. B. Leventhal & S.E. Bundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

A very practical discussion of how to organize a group for LGBT youth to address the issue of violence in intimate relationships. The author offers tips on planning groups, including recruiting and assessing participants and a week by week guide to possible activities that includes exercises in role playing, brainstorming, and the analysis of scenarios.

Renzetti, C, “The poverty of services for battered lesbians”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

Provides a very brief article of Renzetti’s work in the area. The article is noteworthy for the checklist that the author provides in the final pages for making domestic violence services accessible to lesbians.

Rogers, C. (1999). Six steps: Organizing support services and safe-home networks for battered gay men”, In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

This is an immensely practical article. It is based on the author’s personal experience and the lessons that he learned organizing services for gay men in Boston. The author begins with recognition of the problem that intimate partner violence posed for Boston’s gay community and the need for services. He then discusses the details of the process of service development under the following headings - organizing, networking, education, motivation and coordination. Under these sub-headings, he covers a range of practical issues and decision making such as fund raising, insurance, incorporation, and marketing. Ends by revealing learnings about what motivates the LGBT community to organize around an issue. 

Simpson, E.K. & C. A. Helfrich. (2005). “Lesbian survivors of intimate partner violence: Provider perspectives on barriers to accessing services”, in Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services. 18(2). pp. 39-59.

A report on a research project assessing the barriers and challenges to providing service to lesbians who have experienced intimate partner violence from a providers’ perspective. Begins with a literature review, highlighting the dearth of research, particularly from a provider perspective. Research consisted of in depth interviews with staff from 6 agencies including two serving the LGBTQ community with the remainder representing mainstream domestic violence services. Discussion of the results highlights systemic barriers (social values, attitudes assumptions), institutional barriers (policies, delegation, commitment, language), and individual barriers (homophobia of staff, clients, survivors, court and police officials). Concludes with a call for more research, recognition of the high level of motivation to provide service to lesbian survivors and that, currently, service provision to lesbian survivors is compromised by significant barriers.

Turell, S.C. (1999). “Seeking Help for Same Sex Relationship Abuses’, in Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services. 10(2), pp. 35-49.

Report on the findings of a survey of 499 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people regarding the use of resources to stop same sex partner abuses. Begins with a review of the literature concerning existing services, including the legal system, medical services, shelters, and psychological services. Outlines existing challenges regarding accessing these services, as well as provides a discussion of the myth of mutual aggression that pose a barrier to all LGBTQ people who are seeking assistance for this issue. Over half of the respondents had reported seeking services for same sex partner abuse. A majority of these respondents reported that they had found these services to be helpful. Homophobia and other forms of discrimination where cited by those who did not find services helpful. When asked about ideal services, respondents reported that counselling – group and individual – were a priority. The authors suggested that this is due to the tendency to regard abuse as an intra-psychic issue. A majority of respondents reported a preference for LBTQ identified service providers. The responses revealed a disturbing trend towards an internalization of the myth of mutual abuse. In this regard, the authors recommend further research that would help to differentiate self defense from abuse. In addition, they advocate for research that is able to located LGBTQ relationships in wider social contexts as a means of counteracting the tendency to see abuse as an intra-psychic phenomena. They also emphasis the importance of developing comprehensive public education programmes, as many LGBTQ individuals do not seek professional help but prefer to turn to friends and family for support when they are being abused.

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Clinical Resources – Journal Articles & Book Chapters.

Brown, N. (2007). “Stories From Beyond the Frame: Intimate Partner Abuse in Sexual-minority Women’s Relationships with Transsexual Men”( in press).

This article deals specifically with intimate partner violence in relationships where one or more partner is transsexual. As the author points out, this is a very under-researched field. Despite its focus on trans relationships, this is an excellent clinical resource regarding the issue of partner abuse in sexual minority relationships in general. The author, a clinical psychologist, speaks from a feminist perspective and pays more than adequate attention to issues of social difference. A particular focus is the intersection between marginal identities, and the stress that is inherent to these identities and abusive behaviour, particularly in terms of how these two factors come together to make it difficult for women to acknowledge abuse and /or hold their abusers accountable. Brown also includes an interesting discussion as to the possible motivations behind abuse including the psychological processes of identity formation and projection identification.

Bryne, D (1996). “Clinical models for the treatment of gay male perpetrators of domestic violence”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

This is the second clinically oriented article in this collection. Bryne acknowledges the dearth of research into same sex partner abuse in general, and clinical issues in particular. He highlights the role that homophobia – externalized and internalized – plays in contributing to the choice to use violence against one’s partner.  He provides an overview of two time limited individual treatment plans – psycho-social and psychotherapeutic – but concludes the article by advocating for group therapy as the modality of choice for treating perpetrators of domestic violence.

Causby, V., L. Lockhart, B., White & K. Greene. (1995) “Fusion and conflict resolution in lesbian relationships”, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 3(1), pp.67-82.

The authors investigate the correlation between levels of fusion and conflict in lesbian relationships. They begin with a review of the existing literature regarding lesbian relationships and gender socialization. This discussion is followed by a report on the findings of their own research that consisted of a random sampling of a non-clinical population of lesbians in committed relationships. In investigating fusion, the authors distinguish between sharing time and possession. In analyzing their data they question the pathologizing of fusion in lesbian relationships. They suggest that this tendency to see fusion in pejorative terms reflects the privileging of heterosexual relationships. The authors identify gender socialization as a significant factor influencing the dynamics of lesbian relationships. They conclude that in the population that they studied there was no correlation between levels of fusion - particularly around sharing possession – and violence as means of dealing with conflict. They conclude by recognizing the paucity of research concerning lesbian relationships and recommend that further research is needed.

Goddard, A. B. & Hardy T. (1999). “Assessing the Lesbian Victim”. In Same-sex Domestic Violence: Strategies for change. Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.). Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

A practical and useful article for beginning the process of identifying the primary aggressor in abusive lesbian relationships. Using a real case example, the authors explode some of the myths regarding abuse and abusers in lesbian relationships, as well as offering some useful tips for conducting these assessments.

Istar, A, (1996). “Couple assessment: Identifying and intervening in domestic violence in lesbian relationships”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

Istar identifies three paradigms (feminist, LGBTQ affirmative and systems theory) that are influential to her practice as a clinician providing family therapy to lesbians in abusive relationships. She outlines the similarities and differences between the three approaches and the conflicts that result. In particular, the author discusses the seemingly competing imperatives to ensure the safety of victims of domestic violence at the same time as recognizing the importance of the familial bond to lesbian who are marginalized due to their sexuality. She advocates for keeping partners together for at least the initial assessment and eschews a rigid adherence to the dogmatic denial of couple counselling in all situations of violence.

Marrujo, B & Kreger, M (1996). “Definition of roles in abusive lesbian relationships”. In Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). Harrington Park Press: New York. 

The focus of this article is the persistence of the myth of mutuality that is often applied to abusive lesbian relationships. The authors report on the results of a research study in which 34% of lesbians involved in abusive relationships reported fighting back. They reject the terminology of mutual combatants because they feel that it misses the nuances of the power dynamics in abusive relationships and choose instead to distinguish between self defense and reactive participation. They suggest that there are three roles to consider in abusive relationships - victim, perpetrator of primary aggressor and participant - and proceed to itemize the behaviours and responses that characterize each role. The authors’ commitment to directly addressing the issue mutuality is to be commended.

Nickel, R.S. (1999). “Children witnessing partner abuse in same-gender caregiver families: impact & intervention”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

This article is unique in that it is one of the only articles to deal with the issue of children who witness same sex partner abuse. The author claims that children are the invisible victims of domestic violence, which she attributes to the commonly held myths as to how children experience violence. Nickel traces the long term effects on children including emotional, cognitive, physical function problems and provides a list of age specific symptoms. Regarding LGBTQ issues in particular, the author includes a discussion of the specific problems facing children from same sex families who have witnessed violence and concludes with a list of recommendation for the provision of services, advocacy, education, training and research.

Sullivan, J.S. & L.R. Laughlin. (1999). “Identification and Treatment Modalities for Victims of Same-Sex Partner Abuse”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

Includes a list indicators for identifying the primary aggressor and primary victim in same sex partner abuse situations. Discusses the indications and procedures for offering couple counselling in situations of violence. Includes a fairly extensive discussion of safety planning in these situations.

Fox, L.J. (1999). “Couples therapy for gay and lesbian couples with a history of domestic violence”. In A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, J. C. McClennen & J. Gunther. (Eds.). The Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston.

Discusses how to assess couples, where violence is present, as appropriate for couple counseling. Also identifies contra-indicators for couple counselling. Offers case examples as a means of illustrating these discussions. Recommendations for conflict de-escalation and immediate relief in relationships where violence is present and couple counselling has been deemed appropriate.

Same-sex Partner Abuse – Books and Edited Volumes

Leventhal, B, & S. E. Lundy (Eds.), (1999). Same-sex domestic violence: Strategies for change. Sage Publications; Thousand Oaks, CA.

A collection of articles – 21 in total.. The range of issues covered includes testimonials, legal issues and practices, organizing, coalition building and advocacy, and service provision. Although the collection favours lesbian experiences, there are a number of articles that address the issues of gay men. There are only two articles that specifically address the issue of social difference. The articles are very uneven. There are a couple of stand out articles and these have been reviewed in separate entries. All of the articles are short, the average length being 8-10 pages.

McClennen, J. C. & J. Gunther. (Eds.) (1999). A Professional’s Guide to Understanding Gay and Lesbian Domestic Violence: Understanding Practice Interventions, Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press.

This is an edited volume consisting of 20 chapters organized into 5 parts – Background for Understanding practice Interventions; Assessment and Clinical Practice Interventions; Practice Interventions with Special populations; practice Interventions: Community Organizing and Advocacy, and Future Research in practice Interventions. The strength of the collection lies in the fact that almost all the articles adopt a structural approach to the issue of same sex partner abuse and for the inclusion of article on issues, such as those concerning child witnesses and elder abuse that are rarely addressed elsewhere in the field. However, the fact that communities of colour are identified as special populations is indicative of the lack of attention that is paid to the issue of intersectionality throughout many of the articles. There is also little said about trans relationships and despite its promise, the section dealing with clinical interventions is sparse. However, many of the pieces are strong, and have been included in the section of this bibliography dealing with journal articles and book chapters and it is exception in its attempt to promote theorizing on an issue that has been too long neglected within professional circles.

Renzetti, C & Miley, C.M. (Ed.). (1996). Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships. Harrington Park Press: New York. 

A collection of 11 brief articles on the theme of same sex partner abuse, all of which originally appeared in the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services.  The collection is organized thematically including theoretical perspectives, the intersection of race and sexuality, providing service and clinical issues. The collection is important because, unlike previous collections which rely on first person or anecdotal accounts, the articles are written by academics and practitioners. Also important is that several of the articles speak to issues of the role that HIV/AIDS plays in violent relationships and the particular experiences and needs of communities of colour.  Many of the articles are reviewed in this bibliography.

Ristock, Janice L., (2002). No more secrets: Violence in lesbian relationships, Routledge: New York & London.

Ristock’s book is the result of a qualitative research project conducted with lesbian survivors of partner abuse and service providers. Her primary focus is exploring the domestic violence discourse, as it has arisen in the context of the women’s movement, from the perspective of lesbians’ experiences of partner abuse. Ristock observes that the mainstream domestic violence discourse is seriously troubled by the phenomena of lesbian relationship violence which overturns the gendered framework of this discourse, as well as its dichotomized or bifurcated logic (i.e. perpetrator/victim, power/powerlessness, privilege/subordination, etc.). She suggests that the problems associated with mainstream domestic violence discourse are not limited to its inability to understand lesbians’ experience. She argues that its tendency to reduce the complexity of human relationship dynamics runs the risk of resulting in an inappropriate assessment and understanding of issues of responsibility and effect in situations of relationship violence.

Ristock observes the tendency of service providers to maintain the relevancy of the dominant categories of domestic violence discourse by reproducing them through the judicial and social services. She argues that incidents of violence in lesbian relationships call for a  perspective that is contextually focused and therefore able to account for the microphysics of power as it operates in lesbian relationships, as well as others. Ristock argues that conventional understandings of power, as reflected in mainstream domestic violence discourse, obscures the reality of lesbians’ experiences of intimate partner violence. However, in doing so, she acknowledges the dangers inherent to such an approach; these include the depolicitization and individualization of the phenomena of domestic violence.

Ristock calls for a politics and a practice that takes a structural, personal and relational focus towards the issue. She showcases the plight of lesbian survivors who are caught between LGBT services that are often ill-equipped and unprepared to address issues of violence and mainstream domestic violence services that are ignorant or misunderstand the lives and experiences of LGBT individuals.

She argues that domestic violence discourse, as it is currently understood, offers up only one story of violence from which spring a set of reinforcing institutional practices. She cites as potentially restrictive policies those that advocate for victim only mandates, deny couple therapy in situations of domestic violence, posit power and control wheels as definitive models of relationship violence, and embrace inadequate definitions of safety.
Alternatively, Ristock argues vehemently for an approach that takes adequate account of the particularities of lived relational experiences and therefore eschews narrow prescriptive practices in favour of practices that are tailored to individual circumstances.
As an alternative to current practice, which she describes as reflecting a rigid adherence to un-interrogated principles, and as a means of circumventing the ossifying tendencies of any discourse, including feminism,  Ristock recommends a practice that is explicit and reflexive with regards to its guiding principles.

This is an immensely important treatise on the subject of intimate partner violence in lesbian relationships. As such, it is required reading. Ristock has provided ample support for those of us who believe that this phenomenon cannot be understood or responded to through recourse to a framework that is derived from the experiences of heterosexual women in violent relationships with men. The critique that she provides of the mainstream domestic violence discourse is powerful and persuasive.

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Reports

Chung, C & S. Lee (1999). Raising Our Voices: Queer Asian Women’s Response to Relationship Violence. Family Violence Prevention Fund, San Francisco, CA. retrieved October 2006,www.endabuse.org/programs/immigrant/files/
RaisingVoices.pdf.

This is a report from a research initiative sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Fund. The project focused on the issue of relationship violence in the queer Asian women’s community, in particular community needs and barriers to accessing service. It consisted of a series of 9 local discussion group meetings involving 58 women in total, and one national focus group round table attended by 11 survivors and service providers of mixed Asian heritage from across the US.

The first section of the report outlines the major points of discussion that were identified by the research participants with regards to the issue of relationship violence in lives of queer Asian women. These include an understanding that convention, heterosexist models of domestic violence are not adequate to understand relationship violence in same sex relationships; the need to understand and administer to the needs of “batterers”; the need for service providers to account for the intersectional nature of race and sexuality in the lives of queer Asian women; that relationship violence must be addressed on a community level; and that the queer Asian women’s community is in need of models for healthy relationships as a means of addressing relationship violence.

The second section of the report provides a detailed list of recommendations for redefining relationship violence, making agencies safe and responsive to the needs of queer Asian women, developing service of “batterers” and guidelines for developing and supporting community initiatives.

The focus on issues of race and sexuality, the clear writing style and the practical nature of this report makes it a very valuable resource.

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Educational & Training Materials

Same Sex Partner Abuse – Magazine and Newspaper Articles

Greenfield, B. (2006). “When Push Comes to Shove”. In Time Out New York. October 19-25, pp. 150.

A one page article reporting on a conference that was organized to address the issue of partner abuse in same sex relationships. A good introduction to the issue, although the author takes the position that there is no difference between abuse in gay and straight relationships: a claim that is belied by the quotes included in the article that refer to the influence of homophobia on the lives and relationships of queer individuals.

Moore, P. (2006). “Demanding Healthy Love”, in The Advocate, December, pp 48-50.

This article is significant because of its inclusion in a popular American gay/lesbian magazine rather than its content. Primarily anecdotal and the discussion is framed within the conventional domestic violence discourse. Similarities and differences between gay and straight relationship violence are explored, with the primary differences presented as being the tendency for gay/lesbians to fight back and the revictimization of gay and lesbian survivors at the hands of the police.

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Prepared by: Patricia Durish, MSW/RSW, PhD.
Project Coordinator/Counsellor
Same Sex Partner Abuse Project

To arrange for counselling, please call our Service Access Unit, Tel: 416.595.9618

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