Perpetrators of Violence and Abuse in Lesbian Partnerships

Scholarship, policy and practice relating to domestic violence have all seen many changes in the recent past. The definition of domestic violence is often wide ranging describing physical violent within an adult (married) couple to the inclusion of intergenerational abuse and violence. As a result of feminist interventions a gender-based approach to domestic violence is now well established. Most research using this model shows that the majority of victims are women and most perpetrators are men. This impacts upon the policies, initiatives and service provision. One consequence is that it fails to explore the possibility of women’s different experiences of domestic violence. The point of departure for this paper is that it fails to take account of domestic violence in lesbian partnerships. Using data generated by way of an annual analysis of counselling cases of generated by a German lesbian specific social services agency and data from focussed interviews with 20 lesbians who have been violent to their lesbian partners this article offers a range of new insights into the nature and experiences of domestic violence in same sex domestic relationships and considers the significance of this data in relation to policing and other modes of intervention to bring that violence to an end.

Constance OhmsEmail: