Dominant framings of intimate partner violence (IPV) construct the experience as one where a cisgender man enacts violence against a cisgender woman. While often the case, this framing obfuscates the experiences of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender diverse, or queer (LGBTQ) and may challenge their ability to conceive of their relationship-based experiences as abusive or violent. The extent to which hostile experiences from family of origin violence (FOV) members are conceived or named as violence is also unclear. A large, online, national survey of LGBTQ adults separately assessed experiences of IPV and FOV in two ways: a direct question relating to abuse from a partner/s or family member/s, and a second question (asked irrespective of the previous answer) which sought to establish experience of a nuanced list of abusive acts that can constitute violence (including emotional abuse, LGBTQ-specific forms of violence, and enforced social isolation). Following comparison of responses, multiple regression analyses were performed to assess variation by demographic characteristics. Among the full sample of 6,835 individuals, when asked directly, 30.93% ( n = 2,108) of participants indicated that they had ever experienced FOV and 41.73% ( n = 2,846) indicated that they had ever experienced IPV. However, when asked about experiences of FOV using the second nuanced question, 43.18% ( n = 2,675) responded in ways that indicated that they had ever experienced FOV and 60.71% ( n = 3,716) with respect to IPV. The recognition of violence, as indicated by responses to the direct question varied by numerous characteristics, including age, gender, and educational attainment. These findings indicate some LGBTQ people may struggle to recognize or name their family or relationship experiences as abusive or violent, which may complicate their ability or willingness to access professional support. More expansive framings, policies, and responses to IPV and FOV are required.

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Purpose LGBTQ + people who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and family of origin violence (FOV) are known to face significant barriers to reporting or seeking support for these experiences and may not always feel supported when do so. Method Data from 4,607 participants of a nationwide survey of LGBTQ + adults in Australia who indicated having ever experienced IPV or FOV was analysed. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with reporting the most recent experience of IPV or FOV and with feeling supported when reporting. Results In total, 1,188 (25.9%) participants indicated that they reported their most recent experience of IPV or FOV and 1,112 (84.6%) of those felt supported. Participants’ sexual orientation, level of education, engagement with a regular general practitioner (GP), experience of homelessness and country of birth were associated with reporting their most recent experience of IPV or FOV. Of those who reported their experience, participants were most likely to feel supported if they had a regular GP and least likely to feel supported if they had ever experienced homelessness. Conclusion The findings of this study highlight inadequacies in family violence frameworks in promoting or facilitating access to services that could benefit this population. Encouraging LGBTQ + people to engage with a regular GP, establishing family violence services that cater to the specific needs of LGBTQ + people, and training family violence responders and service providers to recognise diverse relationship dynamics may improve support outcomes for LGBTQ + survivors of family violence.