Typical framing of partner abuse as a heterosexual issue—with men abusing women—does a disservice to victims in abusive homosexual relationships.

Here are some statistics:

"Approximately 50% of the lesbian population has experienced or will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes". http://www.mmgconnect.com/projects/userfiles/file/dce-stop_now/ncadv_lgbt_fact_sheet.pdf

The CDC "It finds a victimization prevalence of 43.8 percent for lesbians, making it the second most affected group after bisexual women (61.1 percent), ahead of bisexual men (37.3 percent), heterosexual women (35 percent), heterosexual men (29 percent) and homosexual men (26 percent)". http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_sofindings.pdf

Up to 45 per cent of lesbians have been the victim of at least one act of violence perpetrated by a female partner and that 30 per cent of lesbians have reported sexual assault or rape by another woman. http://www.pandys.org/articles/lesbiandomesticviolence.html

A study in the US suggests that same-sex relationships suffer higher levels of domestic violence than heterosexual ones. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29994648 https://mainweb-v.musc.edu/vawprevention/lesbianrx/factsheet.shtml

Research shows lesbians experience more domestic violence in their lifetimes than heterosexual couples. What can we do to combat this?