Fighting spirit

For several years now, we’ve been reading a fair bit in our community press about domestic violence in same-sex relationships. First, we were told that domestic violence happened in our relationships; then, we were told where we could go for support if it happened to us; and now, with the release of the Fair’s Fair report, we’re being told that “DV” – as they like to call it – “is a major health concern for GLBT communities”, and that it is the “third most severe health problem for gay men, following HIV/AIDS and substance abuse”.

I was sceptical of what I read about this issue, so I turned to the report itself for some context.

It turns out the Fair’s Fair report was based on a questionnaire available at Fair Day, which was completed by about 300 people. Now, call me callous, but I suspect that people who have had some experience of violence in their personal relationships are going to be far more likely to fill out a survey like that.

The questionnaire was completed by many more females than males (189 compared to 116), and while the total number of respondents who reported any physical abuse was 34 percent, among the male respondents, that figure was significantly lower.

Of the 116 male respondents, 30 (or just over 25 percent) said they had been in a relationship where their partner had hit them or thrown things at them, and three respondents said this behaviour happened in their current relationship. Now, this is obviously 30 and three too many, respectively, but that doesn’t sound, to me, like the “third most severe health problem” facing gay men today.

My frustration with the Fair’s Fair report is the way alarming statistics and statements about gay men are being used in an apparent attempt to secure government funding.

If this is a problem that’s more prevalent among lesbians than gay men, I think we should say that. And if this is a problem that’s actually more about violent drug comedowns and substance abuse issues (particularly ice) than partners hitting each other, I think we should say that, too.

I don’t want to deny that violence happens in same-sex relationships. But I do think, if we are going to explore this issue as a community, some specificity would aid credibility.