LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence Up in 2010, Says Report

A new report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) reveals that six intimate partner violence (IPV)-related murders were reported in the United States in the LGBTQ community in 2010, the same number reported in 2009.

In the cases from 2010, four of the victims identified as female.

The report, titled "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Intimate Partner Violence in the United States in 2010," also reveals that the number of nonfatal reports of IPV reported in 2010 in the same community was up 38.1% from the previous year. However, the Windy City Timesreports that the increase of this statistic might be due to increased funding received by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center (LAGLC).

"In 2010 we were able to hire a dedicated staff person to focus on gathering information about local IPV incidents," said Susan Holt, Program Manager of the STOP Partner Abuse/Domestic Violence Program at the LAGLC.

The report's most alarming revelation is that 2010 saw 14% fewer survivors calling the police after an IPV-related incident, and that of those who sought help, more were turned away from shelters in 2010 than the previous year.

"Very few shelters in the greater Chicago metropolitan area take male survivors of IPV or domestic violence," said Edwin Corbin-Gutierrez, who was part of the Anti-Violence Project at Chicago's Center on Halsted at the time he spoke to the Times. "And an equally small number take transgender survivors, so their options are [greatly] reduced."

Read the full story here. Read the report here.