Practitioners’ Tight and Loose Strategies to Engage Users of Intimate-Partner Violence in Services for Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (GBTQ) Men
摘要
Little is known about how gay, bisexual, trans and queer (GBTQ) men who have used violence in an intimate relationship access and engage in support services, including behavior change programs. This reflects a broader lack of societal awareness of violence that occurs in relationships involving GBTQ men, rates of which are comparable to general rates of intimate-partner violence (IPV). In this article, we consider how family violence practitioners and other professionals working with GBTQ men seek to engage users of violence in behavior change programs and associated services.
MethodsInterviews with 26 professionals working in Victoria, Australia reveal the important roles that practitioners working in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer and other diverse sexuality and gender (LGBTIQ+) health and wellbeing sector play in creating pathways to change for GBTQ users of violence.
ResultsFindings from this research demonstrate that practitioners often adhere to fundamental principles of behavior change work that encourage accountability and behavior change while also challenging a system designed primarily for cisgender heterosexual male users of violence and cisgender heterosexual female victim survivors.
ConclusionThis research has implications for service providers seeking to make IPV services for GBTQ users of violence more inclusive – and behavior change programs in a broader sense more effective.