Intimate Partner Violence in Sexual Minorities: A Meta-analysis of the Prevalence of Victims’ Help Sources
摘要
Intimate partner violence (IPV) among sexual minorities is an understudied phenomenon and little is known about the sources of help that victims turn to.
MethodsSeparate meta-analyses were performed to quantitatively integrate the available scientific evidence about the prevalence of help sought by victims of same-sex intimate partner abuse and the prevalence of the perception of the helpfulness of such sources. A systematic review of literature through August 2022 (using four databases and search in eight scientific journals) enabled the identification of 198 potential studies; 141 were preselected, and eight met the inclusion criteria.
ResultsMost of the eight studies selected were carried out in North America and all used a cross-sectional design and non-probabilistic samples. The pooled prevalence of any help source sought was 81.2% (95% CI, 53.8%, 94.1%). Friends were the source most frequently sought (53.9%; 95% CI, 37.6%, 87.8%), followed by psychologists or counselors (37.1%; 95% CI, 22%, 55.2%). Victims’ shelters were the sources least sought (4.3%; 95% CI, 1.3%, 13.7%). Regarding the perception of helpfulness, friends were the source most frequently considered to be helpful (72.9%; 95% CI, 57.3%, 84.4%), followed by psychologists or counselors (72.5%; 95% CI, 41.1%, 90.9%). Victims’ shelters were the sources least endorsed as helpful (12.1%; 95% CI, 1.3%, 59.5%).
ConclusionsThis study synthesizes the evidence about the prevalence and usefulness of sources of help for sexual minority victims of IPV, highlighting greater use of informal sources, although in some cases they are combined with formal, but private sources, problematizing access to public resources.
Policy Implications.
The results contribute to raising awareness about violence in sexual minority couples, as well as to designing, developing, and implementing different resources and measures to combat violence in this population, promoting the development of competent interventions.