Erie County Sheriff's Office
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Erie County Sheriff's Office Domestic Violence Unit
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Domestic Violence and the LGBTQ Community
Domestic Violence occurs in same sex relationships too. Perpetrators of abuse in homosexual relationships often use other tactics to gain and maintain power and control over their partners/family members. They may include:
- Threatening to inform your family, employer, or government agencies about your sexual preference or orientation
- Belittling you about your sexual history
- "outing" you
Victims of abuse face other barriers to getting help. Reporting abuse would mean having to disclose your sexual orientation, something you might not yet be ready to do. Victims of abuse in same sex relationships stay with their abusers longer because they fear not being able to find another partner. No one deserves to be abused regardless of their sexual orientation ECSO Domestic Violence Unit advocates have been trained to be empathetic to these barriers.
Effects of Domestic Violence on children
Children living in violent homes may have witnessed verbal threats, objects thrown, floggings, threats with weapons, sexual torture, suicide attempts and murder. In most cases, these children are not only witnesses to the violence, but are also assaulted during violent incidents.
Forms of Abuse
- Emotional abuse - Embarrassing the person in front of others, calling a person names
- Physical abuse - Physically hurting someone, preventing a person from leaving a location
- Sexual abuse - Forcing someone to have sex, not allowing someone to use birth control
- Financial Abuse - Controlling the finances, not allowing you to work, demanding favors for money to buy food or pay bills.
- Limiting independence - Telling someone what to do, who they can/cannot see, giving a person rules to follow
- Isolation - Not allowing someone to see their friends
- Threats - To leave someone or hurt them
- Intimidation - Making a person afraid with a look or gestures
- Harassment - Texting someone frequently, spying
- Minimization, denial & blame - Telling a person that their fears are all in their head, they're crazy
Power & Control
