14658University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR, USA.
12226University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2023 Jan;38(1-2):NP156-NP182. doi: 10.1177/08862605221080150. Epub 2022 Mar 26.
Domestic violence, broadly defined, includes violence among children, parents, siblings, intimate partners, and other relatives. Help-seeking behaviors for domestic violence, especially among sexual minority (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and others who are not heterosexual) victims, is not well understood. Using the National Crime Victimization Survey, the current study fills a gap in the literature regarding the relationship between sexual orientation and four types of formal help-seeking among victims of violence perpetrated by a relative or an intimate partner: reporting to the police, seeking psychological care, contacting a victim services agency, and seeking medical assistance. This study additionally examined whether individual and incident level variables are related to formal domestic violence help-seeking among sexual minority victims. Results indicate that sexual orientation was significantly related to seeking psychological care and help from a victim services agency, and the relationship between individual and incident level characteristics varies by type of help-seeking among victims of domestic violence. These results suggest that sexual minority victims' decisions to access services is likely influenced by the availability of services and victims' perceptions of how they would be treated within the various systems. Future research should continue to examine the help-seeking process among sexual minority victims of domestic violence in order to develop appropriate policy responses and provide services needed by this population.
家庭暴力的定义很广泛，包括儿童、父母、兄弟姐妹、亲密伴侣和其他亲属之间的暴力行为。寻求家庭暴力帮助的行为，特别是在性少数群体（同性恋、双性恋、异性恋者和其他非异性恋者）受害者中，并不为人所理解。本研究利用全国犯罪受害者调查，填补了关于性取向与四种类型的正式求助之间关系的文献空白，这四种类型的求助是针对由亲属或亲密伴侣实施的暴力行为的受害者：向警方报案、寻求心理保健、联系受害者服务机构以及寻求医疗援助。本研究还检查了个体和事件层面的变量是否与性少数群体暴力受害者的正式家庭暴力求助有关。结果表明，性取向与寻求心理保健和受害者服务机构的帮助显著相关，而且个体和事件层面特征之间的关系因家庭暴力受害者的求助类型而异。这些结果表明，性少数群体受害者获取服务的决定可能受到服务的可用性以及受害者对他们在各种系统中会受到何种待遇的看法的影响。未来的研究应继续研究性少数群体家庭暴力受害者的求助过程，以便制定适当的政策应对措施，并为这一人群提供所需的服务。
