The Impact of Police ‘Process-Driven Responses’ on Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender + Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse in England

Butterby, Kate; Donovan, Catherine

Abstract

The public story of domestic abuse (DA) sets out DA as a problem of cisgender, heterosexual ‘strong’ men, perpetrating physical abuse towards cisgender, heterosexual ‘weak’ women. Drawing upon this narrative, LGB and/or T + victim-survivors may not see their experiences reflected, and similarly, practitioners may view abuse in LGB and/or T + people’s relationships as less serious, as ‘mutual’ or may miss dynamics unique to DA within these relationships. This article argues that when assessing risk and making subsequent decisions in relation to abuse within LBG and/or T + people’s relationships, police enact ‘process-driven responses’, meaning that the same procedures are followed for all DA cases irrespective of the different identities and/or needs of the victim-survivors. We explore how process-driven responses are underpinned by the public story, and how this impacts the services provided to LGB and/or T + victim-survivors.

Citation

Butterby, K., & Donovan, C. (2023). The Impact of Police ‘Process-Driven Responses’ on Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and/or Transgender + Victim-Survivors of Domestic Abuse in England. Journal of Family Violence, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00608-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 12, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 23, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence
• Print ISSN: 0885-7482
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00608-5
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1723649