LGBTQ+ people are being ignored in the national discussion on family and sexual violence

Check out this new article published in The Conversation, which talks about the need to include the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in the next National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children. The article proposes that:

  1. The next national plan must meaningfully include LGBTQ+ people beyond just acknowledging us as a minority group. To do so, it needs to build on the gendered drivers of domestic, sexual and family violence to include those outlined in the Pride in Prevention report. LGBTQ+ victim-survivors must be consulted widely to ensure the diversity of our voices are included.
  2. There must be recognition of how LGBTQ+ identity intersects with other disadvantages (such as racism) and how this impacts experiences of violence.
  3. There must be discussions of how support services can be better tailored and more sensitive to the specific needs of diverse genders and sexualities.
  4. There should also be an emphasis on developing innovative, community-led justice responses to violence in the LGBTQ+ community, recognising the resistance from some in engaging with police and legal systems.