People of Diverse Genders and/or Sexualities Caring For and Protecting Animal Companions in the Context of Domestic Violence

Abstract

+ 61 88201 2491 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The first, second and fifth authors would like to acknowledge that they live and work on the lands of the Kaurna people, and to acknowledge their sovereignty as First Nations people. The fourth author would like to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Darumbal people, upon whose land she lives and works. KEYWORDS Gender and sexuality diversity; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer family violence; animal companions. ABSTRACT This paper reports on a thematic analysis of open-ended questions about how humans respond to violence directed towards animals in the context of violent human relationships, derived from an Australian-UK survey of people of diverse genders and/or sexualities. From the 137 responses, three major themes were identified (1) Animals are an important source of support, (2) Humans actively protect animal companions, and (3) Witnessing animal abuse can trigger leaving violent relationships. The findings offer unique insights for practitioners into the help-seeking needs of people of diverse genders and/or sexualities who live with animal companions in the context of domestic violence.

‘Being together really helped’: Australian transgender and non-binary people and their animal companions living through violence and marginalisation

“…For example, one survey participant described the benefit of shared physical activity: 'The dog was a great comfort to me, I used to walk him and being together really helped.' While this is something that again has been reflected in previous research, both on animal and human companionship and how they mitigate the negative effects of DVA (Crane and Constantino, 2003;Taylor et al, 2018), it highlights the importance of attending to the animals providing support to transgender and non-binary people specifically.…”

“…For example, we have found that experiencing close relationships with animal companions to a degree mitigates experiences of intimate partner DVA by helping to foster a greater sense of broader community connection and thus reducing psychological distress, and that this is especially true for TNB people (Riggs et al, 2018, 2019). Other findings (Taylor et al, 2018) suggest that TNB people’s experiences of family-based DVA may be offset by a desire to protect animals from harm, giving some people the strength to leave violent or abusive family situations.…”

“…As a result of the threats and abuse animals may receive in DVA situations, many (human) victims remain in, or return to, abusive situations due to fears over the fate of their animals (Taylor and Fraser, 2019). Alternatively, this fear may motivate them to leave their abusers (Taylor et al, 2018).…”

“…Our findings echo this, with participants being clear that animals offered them non-judgemental companionship that was sometimes life-saving in its nature, but also demonstrate that positive relationships with animal companions also need to be weighed against the risk of animals being exposed to human-human violence, or having violence or abuse directed towards them. Again, while this is not unique to TNB people's relationships with animal companions (see, for example, Fitzgerald et al, 2019;Riggs et al, 2018Riggs et al, , 2019, the additional exclusion, marginalisation, harassment and violence faced by many TNB people can mean that animal companionship takes on particular significance and can place animal companions at risk of violence themselves (Taylor et al, 2018).…”

Companion-animal-inclusive domestic violence practice: Implications for service delivery and social work

“…Sexuality and gender diverse groups are also likely to be marginalised, with many forming multi-species family arrangements. For instance, Taylor, Riggs, Donovan, Signal, and Fraser (2019) conducted a study of experiences of violence against humans and their companion animals among 503 people of diverse genders and sexualities living in either Australia or the United Kingdom. Findings revealed that those most marginalised in terms of gender or sexuality were also those most vulnerable to abuse, particularly identity-related abuse from family members (e.g., threatening to 'out' someone, withhold their medications, using wrong pronouns and so on).…”