INDIANAPOLIS — With Pride Month 2022 coming to a close, one Indianapolis organization is hosting a safe space to talk about domestic violence in the LGBTQ+ community.
Domestic Violence Network is dedicated to leading the community in changing the culture of domestic violence.
Ash Rathwell, a training services manager at DVN, said members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately impacted by intimate partner violence.
According to Rathwell, there are even unique aspects of domestic violence in the LBGTQ+ community, like outing someone on purpose or misgendering them as a form of abuse.
"There can be a lot of fear behind that," Rathwell said. "There's that fear of, 'Is this place going to accept me if I come out and share my story?' Often times, too, we just see fear of disclosing and fear of navigating the legal system as well, so those are just some added barriers we see for members of this community."
Rathwell said overall, one in five people will experience some form of intimate partner violence. According to DVN, however, those numbers are even higher when it comes to the LBGTQ+ community:
- 54% of the transgender community will experience some form of domestic violence.
- 24% of the transgender community will experience severe, physical violence.
- 61% of bisexual women will experience physical violence, rape or stalking.
- 44% of lesbian women will experience physical violence, rape or stalking.
"Often times, there is not really a lot of information about what resources are LGBTQ+ friendly," Rathwell said. "Then, even going to access those resources often means having to come out to every single person you talk to."
Rathwell said she knows all too well just how important the work of DVN can be.
"I have definitely experienced some unhealthy factors in relationships in just my time on this Earth," Rathwell said. "It was one of [those] things that, for a long time, I didn't even recognize it, because again, no one really talked to me about what that looks like. Once I got into this work, though, it just became clear."
Now, Rathwell works with DVN's training programs to help educate members of the Indianapolis community.
"I love having conversations with people about what is healthy versus what is unhealthy, and just really helping to build that knowledge within the community," Rathwell said.
Those training sessions include options specific to the LGBTQ+ community.
"That one I really appreciate," Rathwell said, "because we are talking about terminology used within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as just understanding those unique statistics to the community and that unique impact, and then talking about those barriers as well. Really just doing a deep dive in the research that exists on what domestic violence looks like in the LGBTQ+ community."
The next "Intimate Partner Violence in the LGBTQ+ Community" session is Wednesday, June 29 from noon to 2 p.m. via Zoom.
This is a free event.