A proposed model of LGBTIQA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy victim and survivor experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence services and systems

17 hours ago
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Contemporary Australia research of LGBTIQASB+ victims and survivors indicates a continuing and concerning prevalence of discrimination and negative service engagements, with an array of structural, systemic, social and individual variables [i] [ii] [iii] [iv]. This dynamic is often understood as being driven by rigid gender norms, heteronormativity and cisnormativity [v] or formulated and interpreted within a ‘minority stress’ model [i] [vi], and is widely associated with additional negative mental health and wellbeing outcomes on LGBTIQASB+ victims and survivors. Although not explicitly named within LGBTIQASB+ research, the dynamics are consistent with what mainstream DFSV systems have described as secondary victimisation [vii], which “can occur through services treating victims in such a way as to disempower them or subject them to further trauma” [viii]. Secondary victimisation inherently is inherently more likely to adversely impact intersectionally marginalised victims and survivors and is not unique to LGBTIQASB+ victims and survivors. As a theoretical concept, it appears to have limited definition within the literature viii, and may therefore may be conflated or used interchangably with retraumatisation, revictimisation, minority stress, or ‘secondary victims’ as a cohort.

Secondary victimisation for LGBTIQASB+ victims and survivors may include a range of experiences such as:

Intake, assessment and data collection processes that do not include LGBTIQASB+ experiences or relationships
Gendered assumptions and stereotypes in professional responses at the point of disclosure help-seeking
Ineligibility for, or rejection from, services, resources or safety pathways due to LGBTIQASB+ status, including unskilled use of discretion, or applying unnecessarily rigid assessment criteria
An absence or invisibility of LGBTIQASB+ workers within services impacting cultural safety, preventing the accommodation of potential support preferences of victims and survivors
Underdeveloped integration, collaboration and referral pathways between mainstream and community-led services
LGBTIQASB+ victims and survivors misidentified as the person using violence by systems and professionals
Victims and survivors’ anticipation of negative services engagement, ineligibility or rejection leading to an avoidance of formal reporting or help-seeking entirely, or an avoidance of disclosing LGBTIQASB+ status.
Victims and survivors needing to educate or re-educate support people and professionals when accessing supports
Approaches to trauma-informed practice and risk management that negatively frame or position LGBTIQASB+ people as a threat to the safety of women and children
Experiences of discrimination, sex and gender-based harassment, vilification, or other forms of resistance to LGBTIQASB+ inclusion within systems and services
Persistent exposure to media, campaigns, community education and support information that ignores or excludes LGBTIQASB+ experiences

The design and pursuit of integrated service systems aim to insulate against secondary victimisation [vii]. However, crisis-driven systems have sustained longitudinal focus on the unrelenting volume of cisgender and heterosexual men’s violence against cisgender and heterosexual women, further constrained by a structurally under-resourced and over-burdened community service ecosystem and a workforce that is heavily feminised, undervalued and subject to perpetual pressure [ix]. Constrained service system integration can therefore tend towards ideal victims [x], and ongoing displacement and deprioritisation can amplify rather than protect against secondary victimisation for LGBTIQASB+ experiences [ii]. Where integrated service system approaches are optimised for cisgender, heterosexual and endosex dynamics of victimisation and perpetration, this ultimately enables the reproduction of rigid gender norms and stereotypes that drive violence for violence against LGBTIQASB+ communities, further reinforcing minority stress and secondary victimisation.