Fear is a common element among women who suffer domestic violence and do not report it, including among lesbian women. According to information from the website Pink News, a study from the University of Derby, in the United Kingdom, revealed that the fear of having their sexuality revealed is one of the reasons why lesbians in abusive relationships do not seek help.
Research shows that abusive relationships between lesbians can include physical aggression, sexual coercion, and emotional cruelty. However, victims give up asking for help for fear that friends, colleagues and family will find out that they are homosexual.
40 women aged 21 to 70 were chosen for the survey, which is one of the most detailed on domestic violence among lesbians. They all lived in abusive relationships of some sort. 88% revealed that they had suffered physical violence, such as punches, kicks or slaps. 45% were made to have unwanted sex and 10% admitted to having been forced to have sex. 13% were threatened by their partners with having their sexuality revealed to people close to them, while 18% felt like or tried to commit suicide during the period in which they were in an abusive relationship.
Rebecca Barnes, organizer of the study, said the objective was to examine the relationship in detail and not to establish a proportion of how abusive romantic relationships between women are. According to Barnes, lesbian women face very similar threats to those faced by heterosexual women, but “a key difference is the secrecy surrounding gay relationships – some of the participants were in relationships that lasted years without their colleagues and family knowing, only close friends. Upcoming. (…) The fear of breaking relationships with family and friends or of experiencing homophobia at work can deter some victims from reporting abuse.”
