Shelter Response to Intimate Partner Violence in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community

The research on intimate partner violence (IPV) within lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) relationships has shown them to have a similar or even higher rate of violence as opposite-sex relationships. While the prevalence rate of IPV within LGBT relationships is similar to that of opposite-sex relationships, there is a gap in IPV services available to LGBT survivors of IPV. The purpose of this research study was to describe the perspectives of professionals working in IPV shelters about the services available to IPV survivors in the LGBT community. This study explored the barriers and supports that exist within IPV shelters that impacted the ability of LGBT survivors of IPV to access shelters, and explored ideas on how IPV shelters could become better at supporting LGBT survivors. This research study was an exploratory qualitative research study and collected data through interviews by using a snowball sampling technique. Three staff members from different IPV shelters completed interviews in-person or over Skype for this study. The participants\u27 interviews were analyzed using a conventional content analysis technique in order to generate themes. Five main themes were generated from the interviews: a) Serve everybody, b) Ways IPV organizations show they are LGBT friendly, c) Small number of LGBT clients, d) Organizational purpose, and e) Barriers to housing services for male-identified survivor